Viola Davis and Julia Roberts are teaming up for “Small Great Things.” The A-listers are set to star in Amblin Partners’ adaptation of Jodi Picoult’s 2016 best-selling novel of the same name, Variety reports.
The story centers on a Connecticut-based nurse who cares for newborns at a hospital. She’s ordered not to “touch the baby of a white supremacist couple,” and “when the baby dies in her care, she’s then taken to court by the couple,” Variety summarizes. Davis will presumably play the nurse, with Roberts taking on the role of the mother, or possibly a lawyer.
As horrifying as the plot sounds, it’s actually based on a true story. “In 2012, I read a news article about an African-American nurse [Tonya Battle, at Hurley Medical Center in Michigan] who helped to deliver a child,” Picoult has shared. “The parents were white supremacists and told her not to touch the baby. I wondered what she’d do if something went wrong — save the baby or follow orders. That was the foundation of [the novel].”
Picoult explained, “Writing about racism was challenging. As a white woman, I wasn’t sure whether I had the right to do so. I always do a lot of research but I did even more for ‘Small Great Things.’ I even went to a racial workshop to learn about my own biases.”
Davis just won a SAG Award for her performance in “Fences.” In her acceptance speech, the “How to Get Away with Murder” actress thanked August Wilson, the late screenwriter of the film, for portraying everyday black lives. “We have a story and it deserves to be told,” she said. “We deserve to be in the canon of any, in the center of any narrative that’s written out there. And that’s what August did.” The actress won a Tony for her performance in the play the film is based on, which Wilson also wrote. The Oscar nominee is expected to take home the trophy for her powerful portrayal in the film.
Marc Platt (“La La Land”) is producing “Small Great Things” through Marc Platt Prods., and he’s joined by Adam Siegel (“Ricki and the Flash”). Neither a screenwriter nor director has been announced.
Davis and Roberts previously worked together on another film adaptation of a successful book, Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat Pray Love.” “American Horror Story” co-creator Ryan Murphy directed the 2010 movie.
“Fences” is in theaters now.
