‘Selma’ Star Lorraine Toussaint Met with Civil Rights Icon She Portrays in Film

Lorraine Toussaint came face-to-face with the civil rights icon she plays in Selma as part of her research for the film.

In the new drama, the Orange is the New Black star plays Amelia Boynton Robinson, an activist who was beaten unconscious during the 1965 Bloody Sunday protest march in Alabama at the height of America’s civil rights movement.

Robinson, who later ran for Congress, was immortalized in a picture of the demonstration, and the snapshot has been recreated in the film as part of her portrayal by Toussaint, who was able to meet the 103 year old to discuss the role.

Toussaint tells the New York Post, “She was extraordinary. She was all there. You could look at this woman and say, ‘Oh, good Lord, she just needs a new model’. This body that she’s in, she just needs a newer model because everything was (all there).’ We talked about cooking and kids. We actually didn’t talk that much about the movement. We just talked about her life and my daughter and what I was up to. It was the most wonderful meeting. I’m so honored to play her.”

Photo Credit:Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

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