Cynthia Erivo Will Play Afeni Shakur in the Snoop Dogg Biopic
Jonathan Daviss stars as Snoop and Camron Jones as Tupac. D'Angelo and Angie Stone's son, SwayvoTwain, plays the Notorious B.I.G.
Cynthia Erivo has been cast as Afeni Shakur, the mother of Tupac Shakur, in Universal Pictures' Snoop Dogg biopic, Vibe reported, citing The Hollywood Reporter.
Afeni Shakur was a former Black Panther and political activist and the subject of several of her son's songs, including the 1995 single "Dear Mama." She launched the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation the year after his 1996 death.
The cast
Jonathan Daviss of "Outer Banks" stars as Snoop Dogg, and Camron Jones plays Tupac. SwayvoTwain, the musician born Michael D'Angelo Archer II to the late D'Angelo and Angie Stone, plays the Notorious B.I.G. Myles Bullock plays Dr. Dre, Tre Hale plays Suge Knight, and Lauren London plays Snoop's mother. Algee Smith, Laya DeLeon Hayes, Olly Sholotan, Corey Champagne and Jonica Booth also star.
Craig Brewer is directing. The film is in production in California, with producers including Snoop Dogg, Death Row Pictures president Sara Ramaker, and Imagine Entertainment's Allan Mandelbaum and Brian Grazer, who produced "8 Mile." It is expected in theaters in August 2027.
Erivo's slate
Erivo's film adaptation of the play "Prima Facie," which she also executive produced, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and opens in the U.K. and Ireland on Nov. 13. Her action-thriller "Karōshi" opens Feb. 5, with a trailer due Thursday.
Additional reporting
Celebrities React to Governor-Elect Keisha Lance Bottoms’ Historic Georgia Win Cynthia Erivo to Play Tupac Shakur’s Mother in Snoop Dogg Biopic The Craig Brewer-directed film is expected to arrive in theaters in August 2027 Cynthia Erivo has been tapped to portray Afeni Shakur, the mother of Tupac Shakur, in the upcoming Universal Pictures biopic about Snoop Dogg, as The Hollywood Reporter reports.
Erivo joins a cast that includes Jonathan Daviss, Myles Bullock, Lauren London, Camron Jones, Algee Smith, Tre Hale, Laya DeLeon Hayes, Olly Sholotan, Corey Champagne, Jonica Booth, and SwayvoTwain. Afeni Shakur was a former Black Panther and political activist, and was the subject of several of her son’s songs, including the 1995 single “Dear Mama.” A year after the song was released, Tupac was gunned down in Las Vegas and died a week later. Afeni Shakur launched the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation one year after her son’s death, and oversaw the late rapper’s estate. She died in 2016 at age 69.
Daviss (Outer Banks) stars as Snoop Dogg and Jones (Panic) stars opposite as Tupac Shakur. SwayvoTwain — the musician born Michael D’Angelo Archer II to late legendary artists D’Angelo and Angie Stone — will portray Notorious B.I.G. in the film. Bullock plays Dr. Dre, Hale stars as Suge Knight, London plays Snoop’s mother Beverly Tate, and Laya DeLeon Hayes as Snoop’s wife, Shante.
Duane 'Keffe D' Davis Sentenced to 40 Years to Life for Murder of Tupac Shakur The Craig Brewer-directed film is currently in production in California, and producers include Snoop Dogg and Death Row Pictures president Sara Ramaker, alongside Imagine Entertainment’s Allan Mandelbaum and Brian Grazer, who was behind Eminem’s 8 Mile. The film is expected to arrive in theaters in August 2027.
Erivo’s next upcoming movie is the film adaptation of the Broadway play Prima Facie, for which she also serves as an executive producer. The drama recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. It hits theaters in the U.K. and Ireland on Nov. 13. She is also starring in upcoming action-thriller Karōshi. The Takashi Doscher-directed and written film hits theaters on Feb. 5. “Every empire fears rebellion,” Erivo teased on Instagram Wednesday, sharing the film’s poster and revealing that its trailer will be released Thursday, Nov. 5.
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What is still unknown
A title for the biopic has not been announced.
The developments described above are drawn from contemporaneous reporting by Vibe. As of Thursday morning, jonathan Daviss stars as Snoop and Camron Jones as Tupac. D'Angelo and Angie Stone's son, SwayvoTwain, plays the Notorious B.I.G. Boston Uncut will update this account if primary agencies release additional records, schedules or statements that change the public facts. Readers seeking the underlying documents should consult the linked sources, which carry the full quotations and agency attributions used here. Where allegations appear, they are labeled as allegations; where vote totals or rankings are cited, they reflect the figures published by the named outlet or agency at the time of reporting.
Coverage of "Cynthia Erivo Will Play Afeni Shakur in the Snoop Dogg Biopic" sits alongside related Massachusetts and national developments this week. The factual spine of this story remains the linked reporting; any interpretation beyond those facts is limited to describing what the record does and does not yet show. Unanswered questions noted above are not speculation — they are gaps in the public record as of the most recent updates reviewed for this article on 2026-11-05.
