Kerry Washington, Oprah Winfrey, and Oscar winner Susan Sarandon have all signed on for roles in the Tyler Perry World War II film Six Triple Eight.
Netflix unveiled details on the ensemble cast Wednesday, and announced filming began this week.
The cast also includes Ebony Obsidian (If Beale Street Could Talk, Sistas), Milauna Jackson (A Jazzman’s Blues, How to Get Away With Murder), Kylie Jefferson (Tiny Pretty Things), Shanice Shantay (The Wiz Live!, Perfect Harmony), Sarah Jeffery (Charmed, Descendants), Pepi Sonuga (Pam & Tommy, Queens), Jay Reeves (Safety, The Tax Collector), Jeanté Godlock (Daybreak, The Simone Biles Story: Courage to Soar), Moriah Brown (Raising Dion, Power Book II: Ghost), Baadja-Lyne Odums (Ruthless, Within), Gregg Sulkin (World of Fire, The Throwback), Dean Norris (Breaking Bad, Claws), and Sam Waterston (Law & Order, Grace and Frankie).
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The drama about the 6888th Postal Directory Battalion is directed and written by Perry, and based on an article by Kevin M. Hymel from WWII History magazine by Sovereign Media.
Here’s the film’s official description: “Six Triple Eight tells the inspiring true story of the incredible and brave women of the only all-Black, all-female World War 2 Battalion. These 855 women joined the war effort with little knowledge of what exactly they would be doing, but were quickly given the mission of a lifetime: sort through and fix the three-year backlog of undelivered mail.”
The women lived by the motto “No Mail, Low Morale” — and sorted over 17 million pieces of mail between American soldiers and their loved ones back home.
The little-known story received attention in March 2022, when President Joe Biden signed a bill for the women to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.
Perry is producing the film alongside Nicole Avant for Her Excellency Productions; Keri Selig for Intuition Productions; Carlota Espinosa; Angi Bones and Tony Strickland for Tyler Perry Studios
Executive producers include Peter Guber for Mandalay Pictures and Kerry Washington.
Six Triple Eight will mark Perry’s fourth film for Netflix after A Fall From Grace, A Madea Homecoming, and A Jazzman’s Blues. The filmmaker also had a role in Adam McKay’s hit Netflix movie Don’t Look Up.
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