Terry McMillan wrote the original stories to black women’s favorite romance dramas of the ‘90s, including How Stella Got Her Groove Back. She recently sat down with Tamron Hall to discuss a new television adaptation of the popular film and novel Waiting To Exhale. McMillan also revealed that although the show will center around the original characters’ daughters, she hopes the 1995 film cast can also be involved.
The author is working with producer Lee Daniels to create the adaptation and wants surviving members of the original cast to make cameos throughout the series. Unfortunately, Whitney Houston, one of four leads in the film, passed away in 2012. McMillan hopes to have Angela Bassett, Lela Rochon and Loretta Devine reprise their roles in the new series.
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“They’re trying to create, or recreate, the essence of the story. It’s not necessarily a re-enactment of the story,” McMillan said on the Tamron Hall Show. Following the novel’s 1992 release, it became one of the New York Time’s best sellers in less than four months.
The 69-year-old writer also talked about the true story behind How Stella Got Her Groove Back, admitting “But even the way that happened, it didn’t happen the way I wrote it in real life…I wrote that book in 28 days.”
Waiting To Exhale’s adaptation was recently landed by ABC and directed by Anthony Hemingway, known for his work on the historical drama Red Tails. According to Deadline, the series will look “at the next generation of our women through the lens of the tangled friendships and complicated lives of their daughters.”
No word yet on a premiere date.
