Even though not nearly enough people saw Pariah last year, Adepero Oduye's startling performance not only took the indie scene by storm, it had reverberations throughout Hollywood. Her big breakout reminded me of the first time I saw Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rider, promising a long, bright future of terrific roles and possible award victories. I turned out to be wrong about Castle-Hughes, but Oduye is well on her way to reaching her full potential.
So how's this for a follow-up, working with Hollywood's hottest actor/director pair in Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender, not to mention one of the world's biggest celebrities in Brad Pitt? ThePlaylist has learned that Oduye is in talks to join them for Twelve Years A Slave, based on the book by Solomon Northrup. The best African-American actor in the business, Chiwetel Ejiafor(sorry Denzel!), stars as Northrup, a freed slave who was lured by a pair of entertainers into a fiddling gig at a circus, only to have the men kidnap him and sell him back into slavery, where he spent the next twelve years of his life. Oduye will likely be taking on the role of Northrup's wife, Anne Hampton. Pitt would play the lawyer she hires to help set him free.
I'm not sure how this film could get any better. McQueen and Fassbender are batting 1.000 after Hunger and Shame, and this could be the best yet if the cast is anything to go by. Filming should kick off this summer, and if it opens in time you can bet it'll make some noise next Oscar season.
