Photo credit: Tony Dejak/AP Photo; Photo via: Columbia State University
This is really happening! NBA star LeBron James’ production company, SpringHill Entertainment, is partnering with Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer to bring the story of activist and pioneering entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker to life in a new television series.
The so-far untitled drama, which will be based on the book “On Her Own Ground” by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles, has been presented to potential buyers, with Netflix showing immediate interest, according to Variety.
Spencer, who has already portrayed a trailblazing woman in history before (NASA’s first Black supervisor Dorothy Vaughan in “Hidden Figures) is set to star as Madam C.J. Walker. Walker’s great-great granddaughter will also be a consultant on the limited series, while James will executive produce along with his company’s co-founder, Maverick Carter.
Madam C.J. Walker was a woman ahead of her time. In the first 20 years of her life, she became an orphan, a wife, a mother, and a widow. Her vision to create a hair care line for women of color helped her go from making $1.50 a week to making history as America’s first woman to become a self-made millionaire. She used her success as a platform to promote Black self-help, education, and equal rights, as well as taught other Black women how to start their own businesses.
“I am really proud of this project and that SpringHill will be partnering with Octavia to tell this important story,” James said.
“Every American should all know the story of Madam C.J. Walker. She was an innovator, entrepreneur, social activist, and total game changer whose story has been left out of the history books. I hope this project lives up to her legacy with a story that will educate and inspire.”