1/11/2016

'The Walking Dead''s Danai Gurira To Play Tupac's Mom In 'All Eyez On Me'

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Fans may be familiar with Danai Gurira as the sword-swinging zombie-slicing Michonne on The Walking Dead, but she was an accomplished actress long before that. Check out her incredible performances in The Visitor and Mother of George for evidence of her skills beyond killing the undead. Or you could simply wait to see her in the upcoming Tupac Shakur biopic in which she'll play the late rapper's mother.

Gurira has been cast as Afeni Shakur in All Eyez On Me, the forever-developing film about Tupac's life and career which were tragically cut short when he was murdered in 1996. She joins newcomer and Tupac dead-ringer Demetrius Shipp Jr., along with Jamal Woolard as Notorious B.I.G. Woolard played Biggie in Notorious back in 2009, making him one of the few actors to play the same real-life person in totally different movies.  The film has seen a number of directors attached over the years only to drop out for various reasons. Music video director Benny Boom is behind the camera and since production has been underway for a while we can assume he's staying.

This could be the kind of role that gets people talking about Gurira for more than just her TV work. Much of Tupac's political awareness came from his mother, a former Black Panther and activist who instilled her fiery beliefs into her son.

Check out a video featuring Shipp to see his amazing resemblance to 2Pac. [Deadline]