Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight,” “Green Book”) is set to play legendary boxer Jack Johnson in a limited series titled “Unruly” which he will executive produce alongside Tom Hanks and famed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
The project is said to be an “unapologetically Black,” no-holds-barred telling of Jack Johnson, the so-called Galveston Giant who rose to greatness and became the world’s first Black heavyweight champ (1908–1915) at the height of the Jim Crow era.
Tony-nominated scribe Dominique Morisseau will write the six-part series based on Burns’ PBS documentary “Unforgivable Blackness” and its companion book by Geoffrey C. Ward.
Ali previously played Johnson two decades ago in a stage production of “The Great White Hope”. Amatus Karim Ali and Mimi Valdes will also produce.
Source: Collider
