Get on Up‘s Tika Sumpter has been cast as the First Lady of the United States in the recently announced “Before Sunrise-style” indie romance Southside with You, about the burgeoning romance between America’s ultimate power-couple Barack and Michelle Obama, according to Deadline. Helmed by Richard Tanne’s original screenplay and backed by Homegrown Pictures, the story will document the future commander-in-chief’s first date across the south side of Chicago with his future wife, then Michelle LaVaughn Robinson.
The couple met in 1989 after Barack’s first year as a Harvard Law Student. That summer, he took an associate’s position at Michelle’s Sidney Austin firm, where she was his younger boss. After some convincing, Michelle agreed to a date with our future President, which consisted of a visit to the city’s Art Institute, a long walk, and the viewing of Spike Lee’s latest film Do the Right Thing. The couple would go on to marry within three years of dating. Casting for Barack Obama is still underway.
Although Sumpter has a substantial acting resume – being featured in such films as Think Like a Man, Ride Along, and this year’s critically acclaimed Get on Up – her role as a young Michelle Obama may very well be a career-launching, if not defining, project for the up-and-coming actress. Until Southside with You sees its release, Sumpter will appear in the sequel to Ride Along, starring Kevin Hart.
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