Ava DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey have a charming, warm friendship. Since they first met at Oprah’s Mother’s Day soirée, the two have appeared either behind the scenes or in front of the camera in each other’s projects. Oprah is staring in DuVernay’s A Wrinkle In Time, and the award-winning director said it didn’t take much convincing.
DuVernay told E! News she used a trip to New Zealand to work up the courage to ask Winfrey to be a part of the film.
“I was going to New Zealand to shoot the movie. I was trying to get up the guts to ask her to be in the movie, which is a big thing. She’s Oprah Winfrey,” she told E! News. “It’s not an easy question to ask.”
She mentioned to Oprah she was going to New Zealand to shoot scenes for her Sci-Fi film, and wanted to meet her there for support and to “hang out.”
“I was like ‘oh, right, or maybe you could work?’ Why don’t you come be Mrs. Which?’ “
The novel-turned-film follows a young girl, played by Storm Reid, who travels through other dimensions to save her father. Resse Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling star alongside Winfrey in the film that’s received warm reviews and is being applauded for its diverse cast. A Wrinkle In Time is also the first movie directed by an African-American woman with a $100 million budget, and is already gaining community support.
Questlove spurred #WRINKLEChallenge, urging people to donate $10 to help underserved children an opportunity to see the movie opening night. A Wrinkle In Time hits theaters March 9.