The film's producing team includes alumni of "La La Land," "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," and "Southside with You." Fifteen years ago, “Real Women Have Curves” director Patricia Cardoso almost made “Nappily Ever After” for Universal Pictures, with Halle Berry in the lead role. An adaptation of the bestselling first installment from Trisha R. Thomas’ eight-book series eventually found a home at Netflix. Berry’s onetime part went to Film Independent Spirit Award nominee Sanaa Lathan (“Love & Basketball”), also the project’s co-producer. As advertising executive Violet Jones — changed from Venus Johnston in the books — Lathan is a coiffure-conscious perfectionist who believes she’s engineered herself a happy ending. Yet life begins to capsize when her doctor beau presents her with a Chihuahua instead of a proposal, and she is taken off an important work account. Late one night, convinced she has nothing left to lose — and recalling her boyfriend’s criticism of “You never let your hair down” — she shaves her head. The film’s tagline, naturally, is, “Let Yourself Grow.” Adam Brooks (“Beloved”) and first-time screenwriter Cee Marcellus penned the film, which co-stars Ernie Hudson (“Ghostbusters”) and Emmy winner Lynn Whitfield (“The Josephine Baker Story”) as Violet’s parents, plus “American Gods” lead Ricky Whittle and Netflix veteran Lyriq Bent (“She’s Gotta Have It”) as her suitors. BAFTA nominee Haifaa al-Mansour became the first Saudi woman to direct a feature film with “Wadjda” (2014); last year, Elle Fanning starred in her English-language debut, IFC Films’ “Mary Shelley.” Additional producers include Tracey Bing (“Southside with You”), Jared LeBoff (“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”), and Marc Platt (“La La Land”), who was attached to the film when it was in development at Universal. “Nappily Ever After” arrives on Netflix September 21. Watch the trailer below. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.<doc-sep>Netflix A woman’s identification with her hair can be a powerful thing, but for a black woman, it is a tangled identity fraught with the ongoing effects of racism, respectability politics and beauty standards that have historically marginalized our hair along with everything else. Advertisement With the rise of the natural hair movement, it’s sometimes easy to forget that not all of us are proudly rocking our natural textures and that for some, outdated notions of femininity and desirability are intertwined with the way we wear our tresses. This is the pretext of Netflix’s upcoming original movie, Nappily Ever After, starring Sanaa Lathan (who famously shaved her head for the role). Based on the 2001 bestselling book by Trisha R. Thomas, it is the story of one woman’s breakthrough—and the hair that might be holding her back. Lathan plays Venus Johnson, a beautiful and highly successful woman who seems to have everything except the ring she so deeply desires. When her longtime boyfriend refuses to commit, she cuts him off—and her hair soon follows. Forced to find out who she really is behind the curtain, Venus must face her insecurities and dismantle everything she thought she knew about herself, hopefully growing into her truth in the process. The Glow Up tip: Nappily Ever After premieres on September 21 on Netflix.<doc-sep>Black women have praised the trailer for a new Netflix film that shows the female lead tearfully shaving her head. Fans said the trailer for Nappily Ever After, which sees US actress Sanaa Lathan taking clippers to her scalp, was something 'young black girls needed', as they praised Netflix for highlighting black women's relationship with their natural hair and making the subject mainstream. Based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Trisha R Thomas, Nappily Ever After sees lead character Violet Jones struggling to balance her seemingly perfect life with her boyfriend and her meticulously maintained hair - either straightened or wearing a wig. In the clip from the film Violet 'liberates' herself by shaving it all off, prompting one fan to tweet: 'Finally! A show... I can relate to regarding my hair struggles,' and another to write online that 'wearing your natural hair is a liberation'. Many said the film was something 'young black girls need'. US actress Sanaa Lathan stars as Violet Jones in Netflix original Nappily Ever After which follows the lead character as her life begins to unravel after a life-changing event doesn’t go according to her plan, and a hair-raising incident at the hairdresser The movie has been praised by black women for its portrayal of the relationship many have with their natural hair. In one scene Sanaa is seen in character shaving off her hair - something the actress did in real life for the role Black women took to Twitter to heap praise on the movie which is set for release on the streaming platform on September 21. Many said after seeing the trailer that they would be watching the movie because it was so relatable to their own experiences Some women shared their own tales of dealing with how they felt about their own hair growing up, at a time when conventional beauty standards appeared to favour European hair. One woman said: 'I’m cryinggggg, because I literally did this with my hair. Shaving it off is such a life changing experiencing and I’ll never change what I went through.' Thousands of people retweeted and shared Raissa Ames tweet, which said: 'The amount of strength, pride, and identity that black women hold in their hair is both mentally/physically exhausting and completely liberating.' 'FINALLY! A show where I can relate to regarding my hair struggles,' added another. 'BLACK GIRLS NEEDED THIS! Thank you,' gushed one. Twitter users shared how pleased they were to see natural hair on a high profile show, and hoped it would inspire others to embrace their 'nappy' styles. Others expressed a desire to have had had something similar in mainstream entertainment as children. Eventually, Violet realizes that she was living the life she thought she was supposed to live, not the one she really wanted and goes on a path of discovery about herself and who she really is - hair or no hair Other women said they wished they had had something in mainstream entertainment for them to refer to growing up, gushing they couldn't wait to watch the movie and hoped others would be inspired to go natural Sanaa, 46, who also serves as a producer on the movie, went method with her role, sharing pictures of her newly shorn head during filming in September last year. In scenes from the trailer Sanaa's character is seen taking hold of the clippers and tearfully shaving her head until she is completely bald. Sanaa said in the clip from September 2017 showing off her new look: 'I'm just doing my reveal. 'It's all off. I feel, like, so light I could fly away,' she said with a kiss and a smile, tagging the clip #NappilyEverAfter. Sanaa debuted her shaved head for her the film project Nappily Ever After in September of last year year, showing off the look in an Instagram video clip where she said she felt 'so light I could fly away' Previous Instagram photos with the '#NappilyEverAfter' hashtag have seen Sanaa showcase multiple different hairdos before this new shaven look came. The movie begins with her natural dark hair before she dyes in blonde and cuts it Previous Instagram photos with the same hashtag have seen Sanaa showcase multiple different hairdos as part of her character. The novel follows Venus Johnston - renamed Violet Jones in the movie - as she dumps her waffling beau Clint and debuts a new close-cropped hairdo that startles many in her acquaintance, according to the official summary posted on the book's Amazon page. Trisha's literary debut, the novel kicked off a series of books including Would I Lie To You?, Nappily Married, Nappily About Us and Postcards From Venus.<doc-sep>Lathan stars in the new Netflix film, which premieres in September. Sanaa Lathan went all in for her latest role. In a trailer for her upcoming Netflix film, "Nappily Ever After," Lathan, who plays perfectionist Violet Jones, can be seen shaving off all her hair when Violet's perfect life begins to unravel. "Ever since I was a kid, my hair was everything," Violet says in the clip. "I had to be fixed. Only then was I perfect." But then everything that Violet has strived for, including the perfect husband and perfect corporate job, seemingly falls apart. After a hair-raising incident at the salon, where a child points out that she could "sponsor like six kids" with the amount of money she spends on her locks, Lathan spontaneously decides to buzz off her hair. "I’ve worked so hard to be perfect," Violet says in the trailer. "And it still wasn’t enough." Without her mane to hide behind, Violet is finally forced to look at herself and choose the life she really wants. As Violet underwent her transformation, Lathan went through her own metamorphosis, which the 46-year-old actress documented on her Instagram. Lathan, who also serves as a producer, stars in the romantic comedy alongside Ricky Whittle, Lyriq Bent, Ernie Hudson and Lynn Whitfield. The film is based on Trisha R. Thomas’ novel of the same name. "Nappily Ever After" premieres Sept. 21 on Netflix. You can also catch Lathan on season 4 of Showtime's "The Affair."<doc-sep>
Netflix are breaking new ground with their upcoming movie, Nappily Ever After – and black women are rejoicing. Nappily Ever After is an empowering story following Violet Jones, played by Sanaa Lathan, as a professional woman who struggles balancing her career with hair maintenance whether wearing wigs or weaves. But she hasn’t dared go ‘natural’ – until now. A trailer dropped earlier in August and it has already created a social media movement amongst women who can relate to Violet’s hair care struggle. Using the #NappilyEverAfter hashtag, women of colour are now sharing their natural hair journeys while also praising Netflix for the positive portrayal of Afro-Caribbean hair. Sanaa actually shaved her real hair for the role (Photographer: Netflix) One black woman tweeted: ‘Good job @NetflixFilm with #NappilyEverAfter. This is the kind of film most studios don’t make but it’s looks like a great movie with a great cast to match. @justsanaa was a good choice for the lead.’ Another celebrated: ‘Yes, girl! I’ve been #NappilyEverAfter for decades. No diss those who perm, fry, or weave, to fit the majority’s beauty standards that we’ve been conditioned to accept. All hair is “good hair,” no matter the texture. I have Netflix. I’ll be watching.’ A third woman of colour stated: ‘This movie was made for little black girls, college aged black girls and black moms. I love it so much.’ Sanaa was ‘terrified’ to go natural (Picture: Netflix) Sharing her reason for going natural, one other woman admitted: ‘I’m going to be honest and admit that it was a ex who first encouraged me to go #natural. I’ve now been #teamnatural for over 9 years and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made.’ The Netflix movie explains the mystery as to why Sanaa, previously seen with long and straightened hair, decided to go for the big chop and shave her head in September 2017. Nappily Ever After hits Netflix on 21st September (Picture: Netflix) Sanaa was happy to take the plunge for her art but admits it was still ‘terrifying’. The actress told Health magazine in May: ‘To me, it’s so much a part of her journey. My character is in crisis, and everything that she thought she knew is unraveling. ‘So the emotions were all over the place for me—because I’m playing Violet, but I’m also shaving my head! It was actually really powerful and kind of weirdly cathartic and freeing. You know, I was crying, I was laughing.’ The actress added: ‘It was kind of a perfect time in my life to do it… There’s no more cookie-cutter, like, “This is the ideal”.’ Sanaa stars in the lead role as Violet (Photographer: Netflix) In the trailer, Sanaa’s character is told that she is always looking for ‘24/7 perfection. You never let your hair down’. At one point, a young girl sporting her natural afro, tells protagonist Violet: ‘You can sponsor, like, six kids with that money you’re spending on your hair.’ Sharing a sentiment that most black women can no doubt relate to, Violet reflects: ‘My hair was like a second job. Now I’m forced to be myself. I wonder who I’ll be.’ Ricky Whittle, best known from Hollyoaks, also stars alongside Sanaa. Nappily Ever After arrives on Netflix on 21 September.