FKA Twigs is officially heading back to the big screen. According to a new report from Variety, the singer, producer, and actress has been cast as Josephine Baker in an upcoming biographical film directed by Cuties filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré, with production scheduled to begin this fall.
Twigs confirmed the news in a statement shared alongside the announcement, calling Baker’s legacy “such an inspiration” while describing the role as an opportunity to explore the icon’s “fight, love, losses, talent and heroism.”
Best known for pushing boundaries both musically and visually, Twigs has gradually expanded her acting résumé over the past several years. Her latest screen appearance came in A24’s Mother Mary, while she previously appeared on Honey Boy and The Crow.
Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis in 1906, Baker became one of the defining entertainers of the Jazz Age after relocating to France during the 1920s. Her performances at Paris’ Folies Bergère transformed her into an international sensation, particularly following the infamous “banana skirt” routine from the 1927 revue Un vent de folie. By the end of the decade, Baker had become one of Europe’s most recognizable stars while simultaneously challenging racial barriers that limited Black performers in the United States.
Her story extends far beyond performance. During World War II, Baker worked with the French Resistance and assisted Allied intelligence operations, actions that remained largely undisclosed publicly until French military documents were declassified decades later. Following the war, she received the Croix de Guerre, the Resistance Medal, and was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by Charles de Gaulle.
Baker also emerged as a major civil rights figure. She refused to perform before segregated audiences in America and later spoke at the 1963 March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King Jr. In 2021, France honored her legacy once again by inducting her into the Panthéon in Paris, making her the first Black woman to receive one of the country’s highest national honors.
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