Octavia Spencer to Star in and Executive Produce Hour-Long Drama THE BOBBY LOVE STORY on FX
Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer (The Help, Hidden Figures) has signed on to star in and executive-produce the hour-long drama The Bobby Love Story for FX. She will produce alongside Kerry Washington’s Simpson Street Productions and ABC Signature, where Spencer and her Orit Entertainment and Washington and Simpson Street are under deals.
The script is being written and executive-produced by Shalisha Francis-Feusner (Seven Seconds), and it is based on the incredible true story of an escaped convict, Bobby Love, and his wife of 35+ years, Cheryl Love, who never knew his secret. Bobby Love and Cheryl Love serve as executive producers alongside Girls co-showrunner Jenni Konner. The Loves’ story was featured in a 2020 multi-part series on Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York blog where it went viral and led to a 10-way bidding war for the rights.
“As a Black child in the Jim Crow South, Bobby Love found himself in legal trouble before his 14th birthday. Sparked by the desperation he felt in the face of limited options and the pull of the streets, Love became a master thief. He soon found himself facing a 30-year prison sentence. But Love was smarter than his jailers. He escaped, fled to New York, changed his name, and started a new life as ‘Bobby Love.’ During that time, he worked multiple jobs to support his wife and their growing family, coached Little League, attended church, took his kids to Disneyland, and led an otherwise normal life. Then it all came crashing down.”
You can read more about the incredible story of Bobby Love in the Instagram post below, and read his story in Cheryl and Bobby Love’s memoir, The Redemption of Bobby Love: A Story of Faith, Family, and Justice, that was published on October 5th by Mariner Books/William Morrow.
This sounds like an incredible story! I can’t wait to check it out, and see Octavia Spencer in the role of Cheryl Love.
via: Deadline
