When Oprah stars in a film, we pay attention. She wears countless different hats in her incredible career and chooses acting parts as carefully as she curates the rest of her life. From The Color Purple and The Butler to Selma and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Oprah takes on only passion projects. She’s a boundary breaker who has touched countless lives, and to be honest, we'd watch her do just about anything.
To us, she has always been a celestial being, so it wasn’t shocking to find out she will actually be playing the role of one as Mrs. Which in A Wrinkle in Time.
Oprah has stated that she wasn’t familiar with Madeleine L'Engle's book prior to the film, but that did not matter as she chose the role for a different reason. Director Ava DuVernay, who is the first Black woman to direct a film with a budget over $100 million, promised Oprah that she would be able to wear elaborate costumes in the movie.
Oprah’s Mrs. Which is part of the "Mrs. Ws", a group of three sisters including Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) and Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling). Talk about a trio! The three Mrs. Ws help teenager Meg (played by Storm Reid) find her brilliant scientist dad by using their powers to bend, or “wrinkle”, Time and Space. Considering Reese and Mindy gave us Big Little Lies and "The Mindy Project", respectively, we can’t wait to see what they pull out for their out-of-this-world roles in the upcoming movie.
Disney tried its hand at a film adaption of the book in 2003, which you may have seen on ABC or the Disney Channel, but don’t beat yourself up if you missed it; it received mostly negative reviews. Although, to be fair, it did star Alfre Woodard, so… it couldn't have been THAT bad, could it?
The 2018 version, on the other hand, is star-packed with talent including Chris Pine, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Peña, Levi Miller (Pan), and André Holland (Selma) also starring in the film. The screenplay was written by none other than Jennifer Lee, who is responsible for Disney hits such as Wreck-It-Ralph, Frozen, and Zootopia.
Although we will have to wait until next March to watch the movie, judging by the trailer, it seems as if it will appeal across the age spectrum, which we definitely appreciate here at YH.
(Image via Disney)
- Brennon Barclay, YH Contributing Writer