Cynthia Erivo Joins Snoop Dogg’s Biopic as Tupac’s Mother, Afeni Shakur

The woman who inspired “Dear Mama” now has her actor. Cynthia Erivo has been cast as Afeni Shakur, Tupac’s mother, in Universal’s Snoop Dogg biopic, Snoop, Billboard reports. Universal announced it Wednesday (Nov. 4), per TheWrap, and the film is already in production in Southern California.

Afeni Shakur was a former Black Panther and political activist, Rolling Stone notes. She founded the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation a year after her son’s death and oversaw his estate. She died in 2016 at 69. The 1995 single “Dear Mama,” about their relationship, reached No. 9 on the Hot 100, per Billboard, and appears on Me Against the World, which was nominated for a Grammy for best rap album.

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Erivo joins a cast that is already deep in hip-hop history. Jonathan Daviss, of Outer Banks, plays Snoop, and Camron Jones plays Tupac. SwayvoTwain, the son of D’Angelo and Angie Stone, is the Notorious B.I.G. Lauren London plays Snoop’s late mother, Beverly Tate, Algee Smith is Warren G, Tre Hale is Suge Knight and Laya DeLeon Hayes is Shante Broadus, Variety says. Myles Bullock Be is Dr. Dre, with Olly Sholotan as Kurupt, Corey Champagne as Nate Dogg and Jonica Booth as the Lady of Rage.

Craig Brewer, who made Hustle & Flow and Song Sung Blue, directs from his rewrite of Joe Robert Cole’s original script. It is billed as the “definitive biopic of the entertainment mogul and icon.” Snoop produces with Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer, who was behind Eminem’s 8 Mile, and Allan Mandelbaum, alongside Death Row Pictures president Sara Ramaker. It is the first project under Death Row Pictures’ overall deal with NBCUniversal, and it will use songs from Snoop’s catalog.

Erivo’s year is full. Billboard says she hosted SNL UK on Oct. 24 and played a one-night Hollywood Bowl show on Oct. 15, and her upcoming films include Prima Facie, Karōshi and Children of Blood and Bone. Snoop, meanwhile, was onstage with Dr. Dre at the end of Jay-Z’s SoFi run.

Snoop is set for theaters Aug. 6, 2027.