Halle Berry Could Be Playing Hip Hop Matriarch Sylvia Robinson on the Big Screen
The First Family of Hip Hop take turns playing casting director for the late music industry insider.
Now that the Robinsons have taken over the small screen, the First Family of Hip Hop is ready for the silver screen. A biopic based on the life of Sugarhill Records matriarch and co-founder Sylvia Robinson has long been in the works with Empire writers Carlito Rodriguez and Malcolm Spellman attached to the project, according to Billboard. With the movie still in development, who will play Sylvia remains a mystery.
So we here at The Daily Dish decided to ask the Robinsons themselves who should step into Sylvia's shoes. "I've heard from [producer] Paula Wagner that they were talking to Halle Berry about playing my mom," Leland Robinson Sr. recently shared. "They just couldn't figure out who to play my father [Joe Robinson]."
Well, Rhondo Robinson, Jr. has a suggestion for that role, if anyone wants to listen. "[Paula] was really into Halle Berry 'cause she knows her, so she was like, 'I think she can do it.' Then we was talking about the actors that could play my grandfather, and the one actor that just stuck in my head was Idris Elba, 'cause I thought him and Halle Berry's never been in a movie, one, and it would have been a great duo."
Other contenders include Jada Pinkett Smith, Paula Patton, and Kerry Washington. However, Shanell "Lady Luck" Jones has another theory about how casting will go. "But you know what it is — I'm sorry male-dominated world that we live in — you know maybe they'll find somebody a little younger, somebody new who doesn't have all those Ms in their bank account you know because they have a lot of great movies coming out with new people that you don't know of."
Then again maybe casting directors won't have to look far for Sylvia. Shanell added, "Maybe LeA [Robinson] could play Aunt Sylvia if she go get some acting lessons you know and tighten that up, or me if I lose a couple pounds, you know what I'm saying?"
Go deeper inside Sugarhill Records every Sunday at 9/8c. And learn more about the label, below.
