British-Jamaican actress Lashana Lynch is set to portray the wife of Bob Marley, Rita, in an upcoming biopic on the legendary reggae singer, Deadline reported. The yet-to-be-titled biopic will be produced for Paramount.
Besides Lynch, Kingsley Ben-Adir has also been tapped to play Bob Marley in the biopic. The project will also be directed by King Richard director Reinaldo Marcus Green while Rita, Ziggy, and Cedella Marley will be on board as producers.
During the casting process, the executives for the upcoming biopic reportedly set a number of parameters with regard to getting the proper person to play the role of Rita. This included looking out for an actress with a Jamaican accent. And Lynch ticked that box as she was born to Jamaican parents in the UK.
The 34-year-old actress was eventually tapped to portray the iconic musician’s wife after she partook in a number of trials including doing chemistry reads with Ben-Adir. Her selection to portray Rita was also met without any reservations by the Marley family.
Marley passed away at the age of 36 in 1981 following a battle with cancer. The deceased reggae icon was a member of the Wailers band when he met Rita. She was a singer at the time. The couple started a romantic relationship while the No Woman No Cry singer was mentoring a music group Rita was part of, Deadline reported.
And as reported by Face2Face Africa, the couple survived an assassination attempt in Jamaica on December 3, 1976. Marley and his band were rehearsing at his home at 56 Hope Road in the neighborhood of both the governor and prime minister when three armed men made their way onto the property. The gunmen shot Marley and his wife, Rita, in what some alleged was a politically motivated assassination attempt.
Lynch’s portrayal of Rita comes after she was featured in a number of A-list projects including the James Bond film No Time to Die as well as Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The 34-year-old also stars in the highly anticipated The Woman King movie.
