BLAC — Black Life, Arts & Culture

People + Places

Black-ish actress to play Melody in upcoming American Girl special

August 26, 2016·By BLAC Editorial

The Amazon Prime Video film is scheduled to be released this fall

August 26, 2016

he Melody mania is only getting started. The newest American Girl Doll from Detroit is heading to a screen near you.

After the Detroit release events last weekend, and the dolls officially going on sale nationwide yesterday, the Melody live-action special is just on the horizon.

Black-ish actress Marsai Martin was recently cast to play the title role in the upcoming Amazon Prime Video special Melody, 1963: Love Has to Win, an American Girl Story scheduled to be released this fall.

The film will focus on 10-year-old Melody Ellison’s realization of racial inequality, paralleling the plots in the Melody books.

Martin is joined by The Wire’s Frankie Faison and Rizzoli & Isles’ Idara Victor. Common is executive producing along with Alison McDonald, who is also the writer for the project.

Help Us Get It Right

This coverage is a community project.

Spot something outdated? Know a person, business, or organization this story should connect to? A story we should tell next? It goes straight to our editors — privately.

Submissions go privately to the BLAC editorial team. No public comments — just better coverage.