Niecy Nash is set to star in Robin Roberts-produced Lifetime movie Kidnapped: The Kamiyah Mobley Story.
This is Roberts’ first film with Lifetime under her “Robin Roberts Presents” banner. She will act as executive producer from her Rock’n Robin production company. Lincoln Square Productions will also produce. The film will premiere in 2020.
The film is based on the true story of 18-year-old Kamiyah Mobley (Rayven Symone Ferrell) who discovers that the woman she thought was her mother was actually the woman who kidnapped her at birth. Nash plays Gloria Williams, the woman who would kidnap Kamiyah as a baby. Ta’Rhonda Jones will play Kamiyah’s birth mother Shanara. After the film, a documentary featuring the real-life individuals will air, providing more context to the story dramatized in the film.
Here’s an official Lifetime description of the events: In the summer of 1998, Gloria Williams (Nash), reeling from a recent miscarriage, drove from her home in South Carolina and walked into a Jacksonville, Florida hospital posing as a nurse and took newborn Kamiyah Mobley (Ferrell) out of her mother Shanara Mobley’s (Jones) arms. By the time police were alerted, Gloria was long gone. Renaming the baby Alexis, Gloria raised her as her own, providing her with unconditional love and nurturing. It wasn’t until years later, when Alexis applied for her first job and couldn’t provide a social security card or a birth certificate, that she realized something was wrong. After confronting Gloria, Alexis learned the truth, that she was really Kamiyah Mobley and abducted as a baby. Despite discovering the mother she knew was really her kidnapper, Alexis kept the secret as long as she could, until an anonymous tip soon led to Gloria’s arrest and their world came tumbling down.
“I’m thrilled to share this young woman’s story and produce something so poignant for the Lifetime audience,” said Roberts according to Deadline. “I can’t imagine anyone else tackling the complex role of Gloria than Niecy Nash. She’s a talented and versatile actress and I can’t wait to see it all come together.”
Nash is currently doing double duty on TV. On TNT, she’s headlining on Claws, while on Netflix, she’s starring in Ava DuVernay’s searing miniseries, When They See Us.
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Photo: Lifetime
