Jon Bernthal To Play Venus and Serena Williams Coach Rick Macci In KING RICHARD
Jon Bernthal will be taking on the role of Venus and Serena Williams’ Coach, Rick Macci, in the upcoming film, King Richard. Bernthal joins Will Smith in the film, who is taking on the role of Richard Williams, the father of the prodigal tennis-playing duo, Venus and Serena.
The film will center on Richard Williams “overcoming hardship, skepticism, controversy, and his own troubled past to instruct his daughters, starting when they were four years old on the tennis courts of Compton, Calif. — despite not having a background in tennis.”
Macci is the famed tennis coach who “made a deal with Richard Williams to train his daughters, this after watching them at the tender ages of nine and 10 and immediately seeing the potential for speed, power and competitiveness the precocious girls brought to the courts. It was Macci’s task to hone and polish that talent while allowing the girls to be kids. Macci had just trained another young phenom, Jennifer Capriati, and in his career also coached Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick, meaning he coached five number one ranked players from his Florida academy.”
Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton are set to play young Venus and Serena Williams, and Aunjanue Ellis will play their mom, Brandi Williams. Bernthal’s a great actor that will make a solid addition to the cast.
Zach Baylin wrote the script for the film and it has yet to hire a director. But Warner Bros. will release the film on November 25th.
Source: Deadline