Tiffany Haddish to Star as Olympic Star Florence Griffith Joyner in Her First Biopic
Grammy-winning actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish will star in her first biopic as the iconic track star and Olympic Gold-winning athlete Florence Griffith Joyner (“Flo-Jo”).
Deadline reports that Haddish will star as Flo-Jo in the upcoming game1 feature that explores the powerful and untimely death of the Olympian. Haddish will also serve as a producer and is teaming up with game1 to work on a docuseries and podcast related to the feature.
Flo-Jo was an elite track and field athlete in the 1980s and was named the fastest woman in the world after setting sprint records in the 100m and 200m races at the 1988 Summer Olympics. After retiring from sports a year after her record-breaking wins, Flo-Jo died at 38 after suffering an epileptic seizure.
“I am looking forward to telling Flo-Jo’s story the way it should be told,” said Haddish. “My goal with this film is making sure that younger generations know my ‘she-ro’ Flo-Jo, the fastest woman in the world to this day, existed.”
Al Joyner, Flo-Jo’s widower and former coach, will serve as a producer and creative consultant for the biopic.
“I am so elated to team up with game1 and Tiffany Haddish on this project,” said Joyner. “Working with Tiffany has been a great pleasure – she is incredibly dedicated, focused, and committed to portraying the spirit of Florence accurately, whose legacy of making a difference in the world will live on for generations to come. I hope that this film touches all who see it and inspires people to BE the change the world so desperately needs right now!”
It’s unclear when the biopic will premiere as the beginning stages of the feature are just underway.