Cynthia Erivo Cast As 2Pac’s Mother In Snoop Dogg Biopic

They already made a 2Pac biopic. It was called All Eyez On Me, and it came out in 2017. (I haven't seen the movie, but its reputation is not good.) In that picture, Danai Gurira played the role of Pac's mother Afeni Shakur, a storied figure in her own right. Now, another gifted actor will play the role of Afeni Shakur in a completely different biopic for a West Coast rap great. Cyntia Erivo is set to star as Afeni in Snoop, director Craig Brewer's upcoming film about Snoop Dogg's life.Last year, the Outer Banks star signed on to play the titular role in Snoop, the upcoming biopic from Hustle & Flow/Song Sung Blue director Craig Brewer. The cast grew to include people like Lauren London as Snoop's mother Beverly Tate, Myles Bullock as Dr. Dre, Camron Jones as 2Pac, and Algee Smith as Warren G. In September, we learned that D'Angelo and Angie Stone's son SwayvoTwain had been cast as the Notorious B.I.G. Now, Variety reports that Cynthia Erivo, now the most famous person in the Snoop cast by quite some distance, will play Afeni Shakur.Cynthia Erivo is a three-time Oscar nominee who has portrayed towering figures like Harriet Tubman and Aretha Franklin. She'll also play Miriam Makeba in The Road Home, an upcoming movie about the South African musicians on Paul Simon's Graceland tour. She also looks a lot like Afeni Shakur. But it's worth asking: Was Afeni Shakur really that important in Snoop Dogg's life? Will Erivo actually play a significant role in Snoop, or is this just a stunt-casting cameo?Afeni Shakur, who died in 2016, might've had a more dramatically compelling life story than Snoop Dogg. She was a former Black Panther who successfully defended herself in the rest of the Panther 21 group in a famous New York conspiracy trial while she was pregnant with Tupac. So who knows, maybe this will be Erivo teasing a spinoff, Marvel-style. Snoop is scheduled to open next August, so I guess we'll find out then.