Before his untimely death, Marvin Gaye taught the world that there wasn’t any mountain to high for you to get over in life, but he didn’t do it without help.
During his legendary run at Motown in the 1960s, he was often backed up by the harmonious vocals of Tammi Terrell on golden classics such as “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing”, “You’re All I Need to Get By” and of course, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” Deadline has discovered that Kat Graham and her production company Panthera Pictures have nabbed the rights to tell her story and the Vampire Diaries’ star will take on the lead role.
“I immediately connected to Tammi and her story in many ways and have felt the incredible need to tell it,” Graham tells Deadline. “Tammi Terrell defined passion and soul itself. … Getting lost in the music enabled her to override life’s punishments — for when she sang, she could use the hurt to create greatness and give the world hope that maybe they could overcome their pain as well.”
The movie will also coincide with Graham’s debut album, which will be executive produced by none other than Babyface. As for the Tammi Terrell biopic, Maryam Myika Day wrote the script and Robert Teitel, Rose Ganguzza and Hilary Shor have all been nabbed to produce. Shooting will commence sometime in 2016.
Embed from Getty Images
Flip through the gallery below to see the physical similarities between Kat Graham and Tammi Terrell. For better or worse, we can’t wait to see who will be cast as Marvin Gaye.
