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Shirley Chisholm was the definition of a pioneer. In 1968, she became the first black woman elected to Congress. She co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus. And in one of her boldest moves, in 1972 Chisholm became the first woman to seek the Democratic nomination for president. Still, Regina King and her sister, Reina King, say the famous lawmaker isn’t as well-known as she should be. That was the main reason behind her new Netflix movie, “Shirley.”
Not only does Regina King play Chisholm, focusing on her bold run for president, but she and Reina produced it through their own company, Royal Ties Productions. It is an exciting project that took them 15 years to complete.
“Our understanding and knowledge of Shirley Chisholm was primarily due to our mother,” King told NBC News. “And then as we became young adults, we realized that a lot of people, not white, but black, would have no idea who we’re talking about when we mention her name.”
The King sisters recruited Oscar winner John Ridley, who wrote and directed the film. Reina King said her sister first planted the seeds for this project when she and Ridley were working on the ABC series “American Crime,” which earned her two of her four Emmy Awards. In 2019, they were already operational.
“I always go back to whatever year Regina won the oscar because we literally had a meeting with John the next day and we took the project out and presented it to find a home,” Reina King said. “We always loved John.”
Ridley’s approach to the Brooklyn-born pioneer, raised in part in her mother’s native Barbados as a child, is intimate, focusing largely on Chisholm’s inner circle and their interactions as she runs for president. That includes her husband, Conrad Chisholm (Michael Cherrie), her political mentor Wesley McDonald “Mac” Holder (Lance Reddick, in one of his last performances), fundraiser Arthur Hardwick (Terrence Howard), and the educated white youth coordinator in the Ivy League, Robert. Gottlieb (Lucas Hedges).
Beyond doubling Chisholm’s signature gap, which was achieved by covering King’s four front teeth with a custom piece, King paid close attention to how he spoke and to whom he spoke, capturing the nuances of his public speeches.
“I was able to see and understand that she was a strategist and a communicator and I understood the importance of all the different styles and ways that she would need to communicate not only to send messages, but also as a congresswoman to get things done and work across party lines.” she said.
Also explored is Chisholm’s friendly relationship with George Wallace, the infamous segregationist governor of Alabama, as well as his later association with the Black Panther Party.
The tension between Chisholm and her sister Muriel St. Hill is another interesting point, as Reina King comes out of retirement from acting, after more than 30 years, to play her. That move, Reina shared, was Ridley’s idea.
After consideration and talking to her sister, who was unhelpful, Reina said, she accepted the role. “I realized that Regina and I had never played anything together,” she said. “As important as this project was for both of us, it was special for us to come together and work as actresses.”
Regina King noted that her interaction with her sister and Chisholm’s with hers helped fuel the story. “Reina was lucky enough to have conversations with Muriel much earlier, without knowing that she was going to play her,” she said.
The film portrays the tension between Chisholm, who died in 2005, and her sister. However, when the Kings approached St. Hill years later, with interest in telling her sister’s story, she was receptive. One of several conversations St. Hill had with Reina, Regina said, helped guide how they presented the Chisholm sisters’ relationship in the film.
“I remember after talking to Muriel, she shared with me how much it meant to her to be told her sister’s story and to hear that, to know that they had a time in their lives where they weren’t as close and to just have that. A little bit of knowledge that Muriel was proud of her sister and what her sister accomplished gave us somewhere to go,” Regina said.
St. Hill, Reina said, lived to see the film greenlit, but died before it was finished.
Another woman in Chisholm’s life getting big-screen treatment is Barbara Lee, then a young activist who worked on Chisholm’s presidential campaign. Decades later, the outgoing California congresswoman is among the most senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Lee is delighted with Christina Jackson’s portrayal of her. “It was like knowing me. Let’s talk about a humbling experience,” she told NBC News by phone on the way to the film’s premiere in Los Angeles. “They chose her perfectly.”
And she feels the same way about King’s performance. For Lee, who once witnessed Cicely Tyson bring to life the words written by her son Tony Lee for the movie “The Road to Galveston,” King’s acting skills are more than comparable. It affected her even more deeply because of the deep affection she still feels for Chisholm.
“With Regina, it was like, ‘My God, what an actress, what a person who could embody not only Shirley’s beauty, her diction, her language, her voice, her accent, but also her spirit.’”
Lee, who recently lost his bid for the U.S. Senate, would never have held any office if it hadn’t been for Chisholm, he said. At the time, Lee was an activist who did not believe that politicians could effectively bring about change.
“I didn’t believe democracy really worked for people like me and others,” he said. “She convinced me that she could make a political difference through the political process.”
Lee knows that Chisholm’s message remains essential today. “I’m so happy the movie is coming out now, especially during this time when so many people feel disconnected from the political process and can see how she forced him to respond to her and not sit on the sidelines. “I was determined to be seen, heard and make meaningful changes.”
King agrees. “A lot of things that happened during the ’70s and 2024 feel the same,” he said. “I keep saying that if Shirley were alive today, she would be on the ballot and she would be president.”
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