The once troubled Tupac Shakur biopic just landed The Walking Dead's Danai Gurira (Michonne) for one of the film's most pivotal roles, Afeni Shakur. Gurira will join the "already underway" All Eyez on Me in Atlanta shortly, Deadline reports. Afeni, Tupac's mother, is widely known as a respected political activist and is considered instrumental in her son's eventual status as a modern poet.
As previously reported, All Eyez on Me also stars Demetrius Shipp, Jr. as Tupac and Jamal Woolard as Notorious B.I.G., reprising his performance from the 2009 biopic Notorious. Described as "the keeper of the flame" on her son's estate, Afeni Shakur takes an executive producer title for the project.
The Benny Boom-helmed film is expected to cover Tupac's entire life and career, including his tragic death in 1996:
The film covers Tupac’s rise to stardom as a hip hop artist and actor, as well as his imprisonment and prolific, controversial stint at Death Row Records, where he was steeped in the East coast/West coast rap war.
Though this project once felt like it may never see the light of day, the enormous success of Straight Outta Compton appears to have inspired the entire industry to truly start paying some overdue attention to these profound stories of artistic triumph.
