The film is based on the best-selling biography of Zelda la Grange, a white Afrikaner who rose from being typist to Mandela’s private secretary and trusted aide during his presidency. Golden Globe-winning producer Celine Rattray and Bafta-nominated producer Trudie Styler, music star Sting’s wife, will be involved in the movie.
Though casting has not taken place, Rattray confirmed that at “least one name of recognition” from Hollywood would be a part of the film. The movie’s budget is pegged at $10 million, and will the cast will primarily be picked from South Africa’s movie industry. Rattray did not mention how much the film rights had cost, but spoke of how the company decided to do the movie because they wanted to highlight the “unlikely friendship of two people from different worlds.”
La Grange told the Observer in 2008 that when she first met Mandela, her guilt made her cry. “I was scared of him, not knowing what to expect of him, whether he was going to dismiss me, humiliate me. And instantly it was that feeling of guilt that all Afrikaners carry with them … Because you could see he wasn’t 60, he was 75 at the time, and you could see he was old, and the thing that immediately crosses your mind is, ‘I sent this man to jail.’ My people sent this man to jail! I was part of this even though I couldn’t vote … Then I started crying. And then he shook my hand and he held my hand.”
Mandela, or Madiba as he was affectionately known, spent 27 years incarcerated before being released to become post-Apartheid South Africa’s first president. Mandela chose La Grange to be his trusted aide, a symbol that South Africa was open to working with all people of all colors and creeds.
Good Morning, Mr Mandela is only one of several biopics that have focused on Mandela. In 2013, Morgan Freeman played Mandela in Long Walk to Freedom. In 2009, Invictus showcased how Mandela used the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa to promote unity among its people.
