Trinidad and Tobago actor Michael Cherrie will star alongside Academy Award-winner Regina King when the movie Shirley makes it debut on Netflix on March 22, 2024.
Netflix released the trailer for the movie on Tuesday, January 9, 2024.
Cherrie portrays King’s husband Conrad O Chisholm in the film, produced by Participant and Regina King’s Royal Ties Productions.
Regina King stars as Shirley Chisholm in the film written and directed by Academy Award winner John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Guerrilla, Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992).
Shirley also stars Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Christina Jackson, Dorian Crossmond Missick, Amirah Vann, W Earl Brown, Brad James, and Reina King, with André Holland and Terrence Howard.
The movie is an intimate portrayal of trailblazing political icon Shirley Chisholm, who was born to a Barbadian family and was the first black Congresswoman and the first black woman to run for President of the US, and the cost of accomplishment for Shirley herself.
It also tells of Chisholm’s boundary-breaking and historic presidential campaign, based on exclusive and extensive conversations with family, friends and those who knew her best.
Cherrie, who was labelled the “Black Brando” for his performance in Britain’s Channel 4 television production of Kittitian-born Caryl Phillips’ The Final Passage in 1996, is a Cacique-Award-winning actor who has appeared in numerous theatrical and film productions in T&T and the US.
He is represented by QuestionMark Entertainment and is a member of the ODOS collective of film and audio creatives from around the Caribbean and Diaspora.
Commenting on his role in Shirley, Cherrie said: “Shirley Chisholm opened the political door to women and people of colour in the United States. It was such an honour to be invited to work on this. To work with such giants as Regina King, Terrence Howard, Lucas Hedges, Christina Jackson, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and the late, great Lance Reddick—God rest his gentle soul! They all gave downright astonishing performances! Inspiring!” he said.
“I thank writer and director John Ridley and casting director Kimberly Hardin for inviting me to this top, professional sandbox of players. Hollywood is – without question – a completely different level of operations, expectations, and pace.
I also thank UTT-APA for allowing me the space and time to work on this project and most importantly, I thank my mother, Monica, my managers Simon Baptiste and Carolyn Pasea-Pogson of QuestionMark Entertainment and the ODOS family for the doors they have opened and continue to open to artiste creatives and for the support and commitment to artistes’ careers, work and lives,” he added.
Simon Baptiste, CEO of QuestionMark Entertainment and founder of ODOS said he is excited to finally see Cherrie on Netflix in this ground-breaking role.
“We are ripe with talent in the Caribbean and it is our aim, through ODOS and QuestionMark Entertainment to create opportunities for our creatives to show the world their talent. I am very happy for Michael to get this big break. He has proven himself at home and abroad but being able to land this role, alongside award-winning actors of the calibre like Regina King is a huge boost to his career and it will hopefully inspire more casting directors to look to the Caribbean for more opportunities such as this,” he said.
