Fantasia Barrino has officially landed her first feature film role. The American Idol alum and VH1 reality show star has been cast to star in the film adaptation of the 1993 book Got to Tell It: Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel, which recounts the life of the late American gospel singer, a civil rights activist who was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The 26 year old performer will portray Jackson on her journey from abject poverty in New Orleans to her rise as a global figure in gospel and early supporter of Martin Luther King, Jr. The singer died in 1972 at the age of 60.
The film will be directed by Euzhan Palcy (A Dry White Season) from a script by Jim Evering, and goes into production in April in Pittsburgh and Chicago for a December release.
Fantasia’s biggest previous role was playing Celie in the Broadway version of The Color Purple, and also played herself in the 2006 Lifetime biopic “Life Is Not a Fairy Tale: The Fantasia Barrino Story”.
