Julia Roberts Almost Portrayed Iconic Slave Abolitionist Harriet Tubman? - Screenwriter Reveals Exec Suggested Her And People Are Outraged!

Source: people.com

This is a joke, right? There is no other option! As some may be aware, the bio movie about the life of Harriet Tubman was in the works for many years – over two decades, to be exact!

That being said, the perfect actress to portray the iconic slave-turned-abolitionist has been discussed many times.

That being said, the screenwriter just revealed that during such a discussion, execs suggested none other than Julia Roberts for the role! What?

As you can imagine, social media is equal parts confused and outraged and users did not hesitate to react to the absurd reveal online.

Earlier this month, the Harriet biopic was released with Cynthia Erivo as the titular character.

However, screenwriter and producer, Gregory Allen Howard just dished during a Q&A that back in 1994 when he started working on the production, one studio executive suggested Julia Roberts for the role!

Yes, you heard that right! A white actress playing the famous BLACK slave abolitionist!

Howard recalled that ‘The climate in Hollywood was very different back then. I was told that one studio head said in a meeting, ‘This script’s fantastic. Let’s get Julia Roberts to play Harriet Tubman.’ When somebody pointed out Roberts could not be Harriet, the exec responded, ‘It was very long ago. No one’s going to know the difference.’

Fortunately, they did not go with that option and it took another 25 years or so to finally make the movie.

Here are a few of the reactions to the shocking news: ‘A jar of cockroaches is way more qualified than some of these people so DON’T GIVE UP.’ / ‘Umm..I am guessing Julia Roberts would like to be excluded from this narrative.’ / ‘I think the Julia Roberts Harriet Tubman s*it shows you just how stupid Hollywood executives are.’/ ‘They really were going to try to push Julia Roberts to play Harriet Tubman because it was ‘so long ago’ and ‘no one would notice.’’