Oscar winner Regina King transforms into the “unbought and unbossed” politician Shirley Chisholm in Netflix‘s Shirley trailer, released Monday.
The trailer follows Chisholm along her 1972 presidential campaign, marking the first Black candidate to seek a major party’s nomination for president, and the overt discrimination she faced along her campaign trail. John Ridley, who took home an Oscar for his 12 Years a Slave screenplay, pens and directs the film with a cast including the likes of Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, André Holland, and Terrence Howard. In the trailer, Chisholm kickstarts her grassroots campaign and is met with skepticism from colleagues, neighborhood children, and Black voters.
The real Chisholm recognized the plight of her journey, and frequently talked of her “two handicaps” acknowledging that “being Black is much less of a drawback than being female.”
Before Chisholm entered the presidential race, she served seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first Black congresswoman. The New York Times published in 1970 that the outspoken Chisholm, “possessed a cutting tongue that took scant cognizance of the Congressional tradition that freshman lawmakers should be seen and not heard.” Her wit is expressed in the trailer as she snaps responses at those doubting her potential.
“Harriet was just a slave, Rosa was just a domestic,” King’s character said in the trailer. “What is it you do for a living again?”
The cast also includes Brian Stokes Mitchell, Christina Jackson, Michael Cherrie, Dorian Crossmond Missick, Amirah Vann, W. Earl Brown, and Brad James. Jeff Skoll and Ted Gidlow are executive producers.
King, who commands the quick-tongued politician, starred in The Harder They Fall, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous, and If Beale Street Could Talk — winning an Oscar for the supporting role.
Netflix’s Shirley releases March 22.
