Janelle Monáe is set to appear in Julie Taymor’s Gloria Steinem biopic, The Glorias: A Life on the Road. She will play Dorothy Pitman Hughes, the women’s and civil rights activist who co-founded Ms. Magazine with Steinem in 1972.
Monáe is joining Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander who will both play journalist and activist Steinem at different life stages. Steinem first made a name for herself by going undercover as a bunny in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Club, before becoming a rightful icon in the women’s rights movement. The biopic is based on Steinem’s memoir, My Life on the Road, with Steinem and Amy Richards as executive producers.
Monáe – the multiple Grammy nominee, artist, producer, and actress – is the perfect fit for Pitman Hughes as an outspoken champion for women’s and civil rights. Earlier this year, Monáe was the only presenter who namechecked the Time’s Up movement at the Grammy Awards, calling for an end to inequality, discrimination and abuses of power. Hughes’ own activism included raising money for civil rights protesters, organising the first shelter for domestic abuse victims in New York, and promoting childcare, as well as co-founding the pioneering Ms. Magazine.
Monáe was lauded for her roles in best picture Oscar winner Moonlight, and the Oscar-nominated Hidden Figures. Her latest album Dirty Computer won two Grammy nominations and her song “Pynk”, featuring those pussy pants, made it onto our best tracks of 2018. She will next appear in Welcome to Marwen, the Harriet Tubman biopic; Harriet, and as a voice star in Disney’s Lady and the Tramp.
