Newly-minted “American Idol” judge Mariah Carey is suiting up for “The Butler.”
The singer/sometime-actress will re-team with her “Precious” director Lee Daniels for the upcoming biopic, which centers on the life of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), a black man who served as a White House butler for over three decades.
It’s unknown at this time what role Carey will play, but she’s certainly in good company: along with Whitaker, the project boasts a slew of bold-faced names including Oprah Winrey (as Gaines’ wife Gloria), Jane Fonda (as First Lady Nancy Reagan), Robin Williams (as President Dwight D. Eisenhower), Melissa Leo (as First Lady Mamie Eisenhower) and Vanessa Redgrave.
Production on the film began this Thursday in New Orleans from a script written by Daniels and “Game Change” scribe Danny Strong. Other cast members include John Cusack (as President Richard Nixon), Alan Rickman (as President Ronald Reagan), Cuba Gooding Jr., Lenny Kravitz, Terrence Howard, James Marsden (as JFK), Minka Kelly (as First Lady Jackie Kennedy), Liev Schreiber (as President Lyndon B. Johnson) and Alex Pettyfer.
The news was broken by Black Film.
In addition to her new gig at the “American Idol” judging table, Carey is currently working on her as-yet-untitled fourteenth studio album and will also have a song featuring on the soundtrack for Daniels’ upcoming potboiler “The Paperboy” starring Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, John Cusack and David Oyelowo. That film is slated for release on October 5.
How do you feel about Carey as an actress? Were you a fan of her work in “Precious”? Sound off in the comments!