Every time a new cast member is added to “Twelve Years a Slave,” we continue to be more and more impressed. The latest actor that director Steve McQueen has snagged for his upcoming flick is Michael Kenneth Williams, better known as Chalky White in “Boardwalk Empire” and Omar Little in “The Wire.”
The news comes at us from Deadline, who is reporting that Williams will play a mutinous slave named Robert in “Twelve Years.” The film is an adaptation of Solomon Northup’s 1853 novel of the same name that told the story of his first year of freedom after being a slave for more than a decade. Chiwetel Ejiofor (“Salt,” “American Gangster”) has already been cast as Northup, a New York citizen who was kidnapped and forced to work on a cotton plantation in the South.
Those two names alone should grab people’s attention, but “Twelve Years” has lined up an impressive cast beyond them. Michael Fassbender—hot off McQueen’s “Shame”—was one of the first actors to sign on board and was quickly followed by Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Sarah Paulson, Paul Dano, Taran Killam and “Pariah” actress Adepero Oduye. We aren’t gushing about how great this cast is for nothing.
Even though this is McQueen’s third collaboration with Fassbender, we’re excited to see that it’s an ensemble film and also McQueen’s first time making a period drama. Judging by the big names he had join his cast, we’re not the only ones who are thrilled to see what he is capable of.
Source: Terri Schwartz, MTV
