*Spike Lee has found his Nola Darling for the upcoming Netflix series adaptation of “She’s Gotta Have It.”
DeWanda Wise has been cast in the role, according to Lee’s announcement this afternoon on Instagram.
“Ms. DeWanda Wise Is Ms. Nola Darling,” wrote Spike on IG. “Da New Spike Lee Joint-SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT For NETFLIX. BLACK WOMAN MAGIC YA-DIG? SHO-NUFF. BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY AND DAT’S DA 3 DECADES TRUTH, RUTH.”
Wise, an NYU grad, will also be seen in the upcoming Fox event series “Shots Fired.” She also starred in the film “How to Tell You’re a Douchebag” and has acted on such TV shows as “The Mentalist,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “The Good Wife.”
As previously reported, Netflix ordered 10 half-hour episodes of “She’s Gotta Have It.” Spike will also direct and serve as an executive producer, along with his producer-wife Tonya Lewis Lee.
The film version starred Tracy Camilla Johns as Nola Darling, who can’t decide what kind of man she wants to date, so she chooses to date three: wealthy narcissist Greer Childs (John Canada Terrell), stable alpha male Jamie Overstreet (Tommy Redmond Hicks) and the reticent b-boy sneakerhead Mars Blackmon (Spike Lee).
“Hamilton” actor Anthony Ramos – who originated the roles of John Laurens and Alexander Hamilton’s eldest son Philip Hamilton in the Broadway musical – has been cast to play Blackmon.
Spike posted a “cast and writers” photo last week that included DeWanda Wise’s husband, Alano Miller (“Underground”). Lee has yet to confirm whether or not he is also in the cast.
The website Shadow and Act named the folks in the pic:
Santana Caress Benitez (far left, standing, rear row), Alano Miller (third from the left in the rear), Joie Lee & Cinqué Lee (Spike’s siblings, who I assume are writers on the series, but they also act, so they may be cast members as well; Joie is 5th from the left in the rear, and Cinqué is 2nd from the left in the front row, seated), Lemon Andersen (seated in the front row, next to Cinqué – on his right), Ilfenesh Hadera (standing, far right), Anthony Ramos (2nd from the right, in the second row, seated), and next to him (on his right), is DeWanda Wise.
