FKA Twigs To Play Josephine Baker In Upcoming Biopic

Uh-oh. Druski’s not going to like this. British musician FKA twigs has been tapped to star in a new Josephine Baker biopic. The legendary cabaret performer spent years in Paris, where she became a sensation, performing in clubs, recording music, and even spying for the French Resistance during World War II.

Druski, who was recently announced as the host for the 2026 BET Awards, spoofed the British actors playing Americans in movies and on TV. While Baker was an American born in St. Louis, Missouri, she lived in Paris for most of her life, giving up her American citizenship in 1937. She died there at the age of 68 in 1975.

FKA twigs, born Taliah Barnett Debrett, will star as Baker in the biopic helmed and written by Maïmouna Doucouré. FKA twigs is an avant-garde musician deeply rooted in techno and EDM. She released five studio albums and a mixtape between 2012 and 2025. Her latest release, Eusexua, won a Grammy in 2025 as Best Electronic/Dance album.

She has also appeared in three films – Honey Boy, The Crow, and the recent A24 release Mother Mary, with Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel. She recently performed at Coachella and is on the Body High tour through June in Europe.

“She lives on in our hearts as a visionary, ground-breaking woman whose story is as powerful as it is relevant today,” FKA twigs said in a statement. “I cannot wait to embody Josephine Baker, bringing her fight, her love, her losses, her talent, and her heroism to the big screen.” 

Doucouré, 41, is a Black Frenchwoman whose short film Maman(s) catapulted her to the public’s attention, winning a Cèsar Award for Best Short Film in 2017. Since then, both her second short film, Cuties, and Hawa, her first feature, have been added to Netflix.

She said of the biopic, “Josephine Baker has lived with me for years. Working on this film, I realise how modern, fearless and complex she was. Beyond the legend, I want to explore her contradictions, her wounds, and her immense courage, as well as her relentless fight for dignity.”

The biopic will start shooting in the fall, with two of Baker’s surviving adopted children, Jean-Claude Bouillon Baker and Brian Bouillon Baker, producing, along with The Rainbow Tribe, representing all of her children. Baker adopted a group of 12 unrelated children from around the world, whom she raised in France.

See how social media is feeling about the casting below.