According to Variety, it has now been reported that actress Tessa Thompson will be playing the role of the jewelry thief that never stops Ms. Doris Payne. Born in West Virginia, Doris Payne built skills and expertise stealing luxury jewelry. Payne in her 60-year career has stolen over $2 million dollars worth of jewelry.
Payne’s life story was featured in the documentary The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne, which begins with Doris facing a court case in her late eighties; of an $8,000 jewelry theft that took place at Macy’s in January of 2010. While she awaits trial, the film recounts her 60 year past as a skilled and deftly trained jewelry thief.
Tessa Thompson is best known for playing the superheroine Valkyrie in Thor Ragnarok, and her latest film Sorry To Bother You made its debut at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The film was purchased by Annapurna Pictures and has a theatrical release date set for June 29, 2018.
Tessa Thompson was a recent guest on the BGN Podcast and chatted with us directly about her role as “Detroit” in the film. She also chatted with our senior film editor Leo about the adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s book Annihilation which releases in theaters later this month on February 23rd.
Tessa Thompson will also be producing the film which does not yet have a title along with Codeblack Films.
