Fictional portrayals of Nelson Mandela are no stranger to screens as the man has been depicted dozens of times in movies and on TV. Most recently and perhaps famously Morgan Freeman took on the role of an older Mandela in Clint Eastwood’s Invictus, but now it seems Idris Elba will lend his talents to portraying the famous activist and South African president.
Based on Mandela’s own book, Long Walk To Freedom, the story covers the earlier parts of Mandela’s life before he spent 27 years in prison. It was during this time he led a wing of the anti-apartheid forces that were long considered terrorist organizations, as they fought for South African democracy using targeted bombings and other violent means. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter quite obviously, but the film will have an interesting challenge of balancing this story in such a way as to be accurate, palatable to wide audiences, and fair to the decades-old conflict.
Elba, 39, stated this will be his next film, though there’s no word on if original director Tom Hooper is still involved. The star (seemingly cut from the same chunk of amazing as Mike Fassbender) is growing more popular every day, so I have no doubt the project will attract top talent and get underway soon enough.
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Source | Indiewire