Joaquina Kalukango Will Star as Gloria Gaynor in Lifetime Biopic

Tony Award winner Joaquina Kalukango is set to star as Gloria Gaynor in the upcoming Lifetime biopic, 'I Will Survive: The Gloria Gaynor Story', Deadline reports. Lance Gross also has joined the cast in the role of Gaynor’s husband, Linwood Simon.

The movie will air in 2025 as part of the network’s Voices of a Lifetime series. Gaynor is also set to write and record an original song for the film.

The film "will chronicle her rise to fame, from her humble beginnings to becoming one of the most iconic voices in music history," according to Lifetime.

Read the original story on Deadline.

About Joaquina Kalukango

Joaquina Kalukango is  best known for playing Nelly O'Brien in the Broadway musical Paradise Square, for which she won the 2022 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She was nominated for Best Actress in a Play in 2020 for portraying Kaneisha in Slave Play. In addition to her theatre work, Kalukango has appeared in One Night in Miami and When They See Us.

About Gloria Gaynor

Gloria Gaynor's legendary career spans over 50 years, never losing momentum. She's channeled her fame into support for several charities, donating not only her money but also her time and talent. She has been honored in recent years by several institutions including the Martin Luther King Jr Award, the Library of Congress, Buzz Aldrin & the APOLLO XI 50th Celebration, and the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Gloria continues to write and record music. Her recent work in Nashville with an award-winning team delivered her new album, TESTIMONY. The album debuted in the BILLBOARD Gospel Chart Top 5, the iTunes Gospel Top 3 and the Amazon Chart's Top 20. It received rave reviews from Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Herald-Standard, CBS Sunday Morning, and The TODAY Show! "TESTIMONY," also received two GRAMMY nominations for Best Roots Gospel Album and for Best Gospel Performance bringing home the Best Roots Gospel GRAMMY at the 2020 Awards.