We Speak Actors
Ama Qamata Takes the Crown: The “Blood & Water” Star Will Voice Princess Selani Opposite Eddie Murphy
Ama Qamata’s rise just reached a new continent, and a kingdom of her own.
Deadline reported on November 12 that the South African actress will voice Princess Selani, the heroine of M’Tali: The Everlasting Spring, an animated family fantasy with musical elements. Opposite her, Eddie Murphy will voice Vakoro, the princess’s villainous uncle, in what will be Murphy’s first animated feature outside the Shrek franchise and Disney’s Mulan.
Selani is the heir to the African kingdom of M’Tali, a young royal who longs for adventure even as she quietly dreads the crown waiting for her. Separated from everything she knows during a coup, she discovers a legendary magical spring hidden in the Forbidden Jungle, and with it, the strength her kingdom needs.
The film comes from an original story and screenplay by Bria Murphy, Eddie Murphy’s daughter, making her feature screenwriting debut, written with her husband, Michael Xavier. The producing team includes Xavier, Bria Murphy, Ray Murphy Jr., Autumn Bailey-Ford and Chris Brew, with operations linked to Atlanta and Cape Town. The project is now being taken to directors and to studio, streaming and production partners, and no release date has been set.
For Qamata, the casting is a major international breakthrough. She became a star at home and abroad as Puleng Khumalo in Netflix’s South African hit Blood & Water, one of the streamer’s most successful African originals. Leading an animated feature opposite one of comedy’s all-time greats puts her voice, literally, at the center of a story rooted in African culture and aimed at families everywhere.
Murphy, meanwhile, stays busy: he recently starred in Amazon’s The Pickup and returns as Donkey in Shrek 5, due in theaters on June 30, 2027. But in M’Tali, the crown belongs to Qamata.
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We Speak Actors
Yellowjackets Stars Come Home to Los Angeles for Final Season Premiere Ahead of November 20 Return
The wilderness story that became one of television’s most talked about dramas took its final bow at home, as the Yellowjackets cast, creators and guest stars gathered on the Paramount Lot in Los Angeles for a homecoming premiere celebrating the fourth and final season, ahead of the season premiere on Friday, November 20, exclusively on Paramount+ with the Premium Plan.
Tonight, Paramount+ staged a homecoming like no other in Los Angeles, celebrating the final season of Yellowjackets with a star-studded celebration on the Paramount Lot.
Cast guests included Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Sophie Nélisse, Sophie Thatcher, Liv Hewson, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Jenna Burgess, Samantha Hanratty, Nia Sondaya, Kevin Alves, Warren Kole and Sarah Desjardins. Creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, plus guest stars Sam Braun, Devon Sawa, Dulé Hill, Steven Kruger and Elijah Wood also walked the red carpet.
Premiere attendees were also treated to a first look at the final season’s gripping debut episode in a packed theater on the Paramount Lot.
The evening ended with a surprise Yellowjackets-themed drone show, reminding guests that what began in the wilderness is far from over.
The fourth and final season of Yellowjackets premieres Friday, November 20, exclusively on Paramount+ with the Premium Plan.
ABOUT YELLOWJACKETS S4
Yellowjackets is the saga of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness. Equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama, the series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really past and what began out in the wilderness is far from over.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Co-Creators/Showrunners/Executive Producers: Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson
Executive Producers: Drew Comins of Creative Engine, Jonathan Lisco, Jeff W. Byrd, Sarah L. Thompson, Ameni Rozsa and Julia Bicknell.
Cast: Emmy nominee Melanie Lynskey, Emmy nominee Christina Ricci, Tawny Cypress, Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, Samantha Hanratty, Courtney Eaton, Liv Hewson, Warren Kole, Kevin Alves, Sarah Desjardins, Nia Sondaya, Jenna Burgess, and two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank. Guest starring are June Squibb, Elijah Wood, Molly Ringwald, Devon Sawa, Sam Braun, Dulé Hill and more.
Format: Scripted Series | 10 Episodes
The series is produced for SHOWTIME by Lionsgate Television. Yellowjackets is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
All previous seasons of Yellowjackets are available to watch now with the Premium plan on Paramount+.
PHOTO CREDIT: PARAMOUNT+
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