Samuel L. Jackson Likely to Play MLK on Broadway

You can catch Samuel L. Jackson on the silver screen this summer with his cameo as Nick Fury in Iron Man 2, but it looks like the actor will take on a very different role this fall.

Last month, Jackson read for the role of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the new play The Mountaintop, which focuses on the last evening of Dr. King’s life before his assassination in Memphis in 1968. According to New York Post Broadway writer Michael Riedel, a source from the show says Jackson “was really good, and he likes the play a lot,” and that the crew is “pretty sure we’ve got him.”

Rumors are beginning to surface about casting choices for the role opposite Dr. King, that of a chambermaid who visits King in his motel room. Producers say they are looking at Anika Noni Rose (from Tony winner Caroline Or Change) and, according to Riedel, are even courting Halle Berry for the role.

Katori Hall’s play, which takes place in King’s room at the Lorraine Motel on his last night, comes to Broadway this fall following a successful engagement in London’s West End and a win at the Olivier Awards.

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