I’m nearly certain it will only be for a very small role but still it’s the first casting we have heard on Spike Lee’s upcoming World War II movie Miracle at St. Anna. Her name, model turned ‘actress’ Naomi Campbell.
This is actually the second time Lee has used Campbell, after he cast her as a call girl in probably his worst movie Girl 6, though you will be forgiven if you can’t remember it. Since 1996, Campbell has desperately tried to get herself in the movie industry but has been most unsuccessful with the odd role here and there in flicks no-one remembers.
Campbell broke the news to Vogue UK, which we found over at Cinematical…
“It’s a very very small role but it involves subject matter that I’m really passionate about. It’s about a regiment of black soldiers based in Tuscany in the Second World War – it’s a subject that nobody has ever touched upon. There are all the war time films of course but you never see a black soldier in any of them. I’ll do anything for Spike and I really think we should be more educated about the role of people of colour in our history.”
Really interested in seeing what Spike Lee comes up with here. He’s spot on about the absence of black men in war movies and although I was kinda hoping Lee would continue on his Inside Man thriller route, this seems to be a topic he has been most passionate about this year.
Lee is currently in Italy working on the pre-production of this thing and Campbell even hints it could be out by next year which is a distinct possibility because it will have to be completed by the June strike date if Lee is ready to begin work on it.
Will Denzel find himself in this movie? His acting slate is clean… it seems almost inevitable?
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3 Comments
Lee knows how the industry works and when it comes to black filmmakers Hollywood basically ignores them, so if Lee can get the funding then strike or no strike I think he’ll get his movie made. Besides the strike is a union thing, and there are quite a few tiny indie movies that get made without “union/guild” talent.
I for one will be first in line to see it. With george Lucas dragging his geriatric *ss on Red Tails it’s about time someone took some initiative and made a movie about the black soldiers of WW2.
But Naomi Campbell? Is she out of anger management yet?
Campbell is in perpetual turmoil. She is perfect for a war movie. Beware production team very soon you might see flying object around the set and one time it might be at your head. OUCH!
It’s excellent to read about Lee’s plans. War movies are all to often stuck in white perspectives and the black GIs of many wars are widely ignored (even in Vietnam flicks, I think it’s probably fair to say that they’re still underrepresented).
Miracle at St. Anna sounds a little like Flags of our Fathers and Letters of iwo Jima in that it’ll be aiming to challenge the cliched conceptions of World War II that we’ve built up over the half-century. I look forward to seeing this and hope that Campbell’s role isn’t a cheesy, showbiz cameo. And you’ve got to salute Spike Lee for keeping on fighting the cause against inequality.