Althea Legaspi
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Cynthia Erivo on Dec. 4, 2025 in Santa Barbara, California. Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images/Santa Barbara International Film Festival Cynthia Erivo has been tapped to portray Afeni Shakur, the mother of Tupac Shakur, in the upcoming Universal Pictures biopic about Snoop Dogg, as The Hollywood Reporter reports.
Erivo joins a cast that includes Jonathan Daviss, Myles Bullock, Lauren London, Camron Jones, Algee Smith, Tre Hale, Laya DeLeon Hayes, Olly Sholotan, Corey Champagne, Jonica Booth, and SwayvoTwain.
Afeni Shakur was a former Black Panther and political activist, and was the subject of several of her son’s songs, including the 1995 single “Dear Mama.” A year after the song was released, Tupac was gunned down in Las Vegas and died a week later. Afeni Shakur launched the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation one year after her son’s death, and oversaw the late rapper’s estate. She died in 2016 at age 69.
Daviss (Outer Banks) stars as Snoop Dogg and Jones (Panic) stars opposite as Tupac Shakur. SwayvoTwain — the musician born Michael D’Angelo Archer II to late legendary artists D’Angelo and Angie Stone — will portray Notorious B.I.G. in the film. Bullock plays Dr. Dre, Hale stars as Suge Knight, London plays Snoop’s mother Beverly Tate, and Laya DeLeon Hayes as Snoop’s wife, Shante.
The Craig Brewer-directed film is currently in production in California and producers include Snoop Dogg and Death Row Pictures president Sara Ramaker, alongside Imagine Entertainment’s Allan Mandelbaum and Brian Grazer, who was behind Eminem’s 8 Mile. The film is expected to arrive in theaters in August 2027.
