Actress Lashana Lynch is set to join the cast of Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of “Matilda.”
The musical movie is based on Roald Dahl’s classic 1988 children’s classic novel about a 5-year-old named Matilda, with a gift for telekinesis. In the book, Matilda must overcome bullying from her parents, classmates and the school’s notorious principal Miss Trunchbull.
According to Variety, Lynch will play Miss Honey, Matilda’s good-natured teacher.
Lynch made headlines in 2020 when it was announced that she would be the first-ever Black woman to play the role of legendary super-spy, 007.
In November, she opened up to Harpers Bazaar about the backlash:
“A character that is too slick, a cast-iron figure? That’s completely against what I stand for,” she told the publication. ‘I didn’t want to waste an opportunity when it came to what Nomi might represent. I searched for at least one moment in the script where Black audience members would nod their heads, tutting at the reality but glad to see their real-life represented. In every project I am part of, no matter the budget or genre, the Black experience that I’m presenting needs to be 100 percent authentic.”
Despite the honor, Lynch says she was forced to delete her social media applications following the announcement due to the abuse she was subjected to at the disgruntled Bond purists’ hands.
“I am one Black woman – if it were another Black woman cast in the role, it would have been the same conversation, she would have got the same attacks, the same abuse,” she says. “I just have to remind myself that the conversation is happening and that I’m a part of something that will be very, very revolutionary.”
