Days after it was announced that Mike Epps had won the coveted role of Richard Pryor in Lee Daniels's upcoming biopic on the comedy legend, Oprah Winfrey has joined the cast of the film. The media mogul will play Pryor's grandmother, a brothel owner who raised the comedian after his mother left.
Winfrey and Daniels worked together last year in The Butler, which marked her return to acting after a long hiatus and for which she earned rave reviews as Forest Whitaker's wife. Winfrey will also appear in Ava DuVernay's civil rights drama Selma.
The OWN boss, who is close friends with Daniels, shared the news of Epps's casting on Instagram earlier this week. She also hinted in the post that she might be involved with the project as well.
While the long-awaited biopic seems to have a lot of A-list talent and momentum behind it, not everyone is happy about the production. Pryor's son Richard Pryor Jr. is seeking an injunction against the project, threatening legal action if the production moves forward. Pryor's widow Jennifer Lee Pryor is on board with the film and has given her consent. 
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(Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)