Marvel’s Luke Cage star Alfre Woodard is lending her voice to Sarabi, the mother of Simba, in director Jon Faverau’s The Lion King re-telling/re-imagining.
So far, Favreau’s The Lion King – a film that will bring its many animal characters to life in the same computer-animated, photorealistic style as the filmmaker’s The Jungle Book re-telling – only includes one returning voice actor from the Mouse House’s 1994 animated version of the story, in the form of James Earl Jones (once again voicing Simba’s father, Mufasa). That isn’t expected to change either, even though there are a few key role remaining to be filled in the new big screen take on Simba’s tumultuous ascension to the (lion) throne.
Now that Woodard is set to voice Sarabi in The Lion King (news that Tracking Board‘s Jeff Sneider broke first), that leaves Nala, Rafiki and the three hyenas (Shenzi, Banzai and Ed) as the remaining major roles to be filled in the movie.
The 1994 animated Lion King is one of Disney’s most popular and beloved films ever, so it’s only nature that Favreau would assemble an A-list roster of character actor talent to voice his iteration’s many animal characters – with even a relatively smaller role such as Sarabi being occupied by a highly-respected performer like Woodard.