FKA Twigs is set to star in a biopic about Josephine Baker, the iconic American-born entertainer who rose to fame in Paris in the roaring 1920s.
The news was announced on Monday, ahead of this week’s Cannes Film Festival. French filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré — of the coming-of-age drama Cuties — will serve as the director with filming scheduled for the fall.
“I cannot wait to embody Josephine Baker, bringing her fight, her love, her losses, her talent, and her heroism to the big screen,” the Grammy-winning artist said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “She lives on in our hearts as a visionary, ground-breaking woman whose story is as powerful as it is relevant today.”
It’s the latest acting role for Twigs to take on. While juggling her music career, in which she picked up her first Grammy award for Best Dance/Electronic Album for Eusexua, she has steadily pursued silver screen gigs. She previously starred in Honey Boy, The Carpenter’s Son, and most recently, the A24 thriller Mother Mary alongside Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel.
Talk of the Josephine Baker project — which is being done with the blessing of her sons — has been circling since last May. Baker is an iconic figure of the Jazz Age, famed for her doe eyes, striking bob and dancing style.
Originally born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1906, Baker performed in Vaudeville shows before moving to Paris in 1925. Her routine, Danse Sauvage, in which she performed in a banana skirt, helped catapult her to fame.
In 1927, Baker became the first Black woman to star in a major feature film in Siren of the Tropics. Beyond entertainment, Baker became an activist, joining the French Resistance during World War II and the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1960s. Baker died aged 68 in April 1975.
