Deadline is reporting DEAR WHITE PEOPLE and Veronica Mars star Tessa Thompson has been cast as the female lead in the planned ROCKY spinoff CREED. The film will focus on Apollo Creed's grandson (played by Michael B. Jordan), with Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa training the young boxer.
Ryan Coogler (FRUITVALE STATION) will direct CREED from a script he co-wrote with Aaron Covington, and production on the film is set to begin next month in Philadelphia.
Thompson is a fantastic actress (she recently won the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor for her performance in DEAR WHITE PEOPLE) and although there aren't any other details on her role, I'm sure she'll be great in the Rocky spinoff. Between the talent in front of and behind the camera, CREED definitely has the potential to be a very good movie, or at least better than ROCKY V.
Tessa Thompson can be seen next in Ava DuVernay's SELMA, which opens wide on January 9, 2015.