Actor and comedian lands supporting role.
Mike Epps (‘The Hangover,’ ‘Resident Evil: Apocalypse’) is to portray comedy legend Richard Pryor in ‘Nina,’ writer-director Cynthia Mort’s Nina Simone biopic starring Zoe Saldana.
Set to begin filming this week in Los Angeles, the film tracks Simone’s rise to fame and her relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson, played by David Oyelowo (‘The Butler,’ ‘Paperboy’). Pryor used to open up for Simone when the two were starting out in the early 1960s.
According to THR, the comedian suffered from terrible stage fright and the late singer, in her autobiography, recalled how she regularly rocked him into calmness.