Pam Grier wants Jay Pharoah to play Richard Pryor in biopic

Actress Pam Grier broke the news that she wants to bring the story of her life to the silver screen. The 1970’s movie icon is currently working on her biopic based on her memoir Foxy: My Life in Three Acts, and she has already has someone in mind to play her love interest. Pam would like to have SNL alum Jay Pharoah to portray the legendary comedian Richard Pryor. Pam was in a relationship with Pryor at the height of both of their careers, but their relationship ended to the fact of Pryor’s battle with substance abuse.

She talks about her trying to save the men she had relationships with in her book from Richard Pryor, Freddie Prinze, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar “Just as I couldn’t change the attacks or the people who attacked me. I couldn’t change Richard. I couldn’t change Freddie or Kareem. And I realized it’s not about changing other people, it’s about changing myself. And that is what I want to tell people with this, that there will be pain in life, but you can survive it and it will make you stronger and protect you from other instances. I wanted to save their lives, but I had to save my own.”

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The Foxy Brown actress recalls being at an event, where Jay Pharoah was attending as well “I watched him and heard his voice and closed my eyes and said, ‘It’s Richard,’” she said. Jay has read the script written by Bennie Richburg described it as “heartbreaking, raw, honest and beautiful, all rolled into one testimony.”

Grier is tentatively going with the title Pam for her biopic. Pam Grier dominated the 70’s with her blaxplotation films such as Foxy Brown, Coffy, Sheba, Baby, and later with Jackie Brown. There is no word yet when the biopic will get a release date.