“I’m paving the road for a lot of other people looking like me to get elected,” Regina King says in the trailer for Shirley.
Netflix unveiled the first full-length trailer for the film on Feb. 19, President’s Day.
The video shows King as trailblazer Shirley Chisholm, who was the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress, and chronicles her historic presidential run.
“I have something I want to tell you, I am running for president,” King says in the preview.
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The reaction isn’t what she expected.
She’s told “you can’t win” and scolded by a voter for sounding “like every other politician.” Her response, “Do I look like every other politician?”
The film’s cast also includes the late Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Christina Jackson, Michael Cherrie, Dorian Crossmond Missick, Amirah Vann, W. Earl Brown, Brad James, Reina King, André Holland, and Terrence Howard.
King and her sister, Reina King, serve as producers alongside John Ridley, who also wrote and directed the film.
Ridley and King are both Oscar winners and previously worked together on his ABC series, American Crime.
An agreement with the Chisholm Estate allowed the team behind Shirley to have access to her life story.
Chisholm was born to immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York, in 1924.
In 1968, she became the first Black woman elected to Congress, and represented New York’s 12th congressional district until 1983.
In 1972, Chisholm ran for president and was the first woman to vie for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. She was initially blocked from participating in televised primary debates and took legal action. While the nomination ultimately went to Democratic Sen. George McGovern, Chisholm paved the way for other Black politicians.
Shirley will be released Friday, March 22 on Netflix.
Watch the trailer below:
