Keke Palmer and Drew Sidora
Posted by | Ray Cornelius
Indie Wire is reporting that actresses Keke Palmer and Drew Sidora will round out the cast for the highly anticipated VH1 biopic about the Grammy-winning trio TLC.
As previously reported, rapper Lil Mama has already been tapped to play Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes. She is now being joined by Palmer as Rozanda “Chilli” Thomas and Sidora as Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins. The movie, which was announced last fall, is scheduled to start shooting next month.
Palmer is best known for roles in Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion, Akeelah and The Bee and most recently True Jackson, VP. Sidora is known for her recurring role on That’s So Raven and in films like Step Up, White Chicks and Wild Hogs.
After the announcement was made, fans took to Twitter expressing their disappointment in Palmer being cast as Chilli. The actress responded swiftly to her critics by saying:
“People kill me, I don’t remember Angela Bassett looking ANYTHING like Tina Turner. And she RIPPED that role…People need to realize that movies aren’t casted by people looking like who they’re playing. They’re casted by who can do the role…I don’t know about you, but I would much rather see a movie that is well acted, then a movie with a bunch of look a like’s.”
The “untitled project” chronicles the rise of the hip 90’s musical group who signed to LaFace Records in 1991 and produced four multi-platinum albums. Ranked as “one of the greatest musical trios between 1992 and 2003,” TLC is considered the second best-selling female group of all time and the best-selling female R&B group of all time. The film will also highlight the group’s issues including bankruptcy, illness, group fights and the death of outspoken member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes.
Chilli and T-Boz will serve as consultants and executive producers of the film. The project is the first of many in a series of scripted music-focused features produced by VH1.
Tell us what you think about the casting choices?
