Fans of actresses Kimberly Elise and Cicely Tyson are shocked that they are not mother and daughter or are related in any way.
The two actresses bear a close resemblance in some pictures from Tyson’s past, which has caused fans to rally round the idea that the 53-year-old Elise should play Tyson in any movie biopic that is released.
This all follows from the tragic death yesterday of Tyson at the age of 96.
Her manager, Larry Thompson, announced the news last night that the acting legend had had a “peaceful transition.”
Tyson was an iconic award-winning Black actress who smashed through racial barriers to become one of Hollywood’s most respected stars.
The star of Roots came from humble beginnings and rose to great heights; in 2016, she said she was particularly proud to be awarded the Medal of Freedom at the White House.
Understandably, many fans have called for a Hollywood biopic to document her amazing life.
This coincided with many people noticing the late actor’s resemblance to Woman Thou Art Loosed actress Kimberly Elise. As older photos of Tyson from her 40s and 50s were shared, more and more people noticed how similar she looked to today’s 53-year-old Elise.
Fans began posting old pics of Cicely Tyson beside Kimberly Elise
Fans have suggested that if there’s a biopic of Tyson’s life, then Elise must be involved. Twitter users have been posting pictures side by side of the pair, and the resemblance is uncanny.
One fan wrote: “If there’s a Cicely Tyson biopic, Kimberly Elise better be in it.”
A Tyson biopic with Kimberly paying a younger Cicely is a hugely popular idea.
Fans expressed surprise Kimberly Elise and Cicely Tyson aren’t related
Other fans said they had googled Elise and Tyson expecting to see that they were related but were shocked to discover otherwise.
Another fan on Twitter stated that they couldn’t understand how the two stars weren’t related somehow. “Kimberly Elise not being related to Cicely Tyson doesn’t make sense to me, they wrote before adding: “They’ve literally got the same face.”
@ToneKeepItG joked that they were surprised to learn Tyson’s age because they had thought she was “Kimberly Elise this whole time.”
Another fan commented on how they thought Elise’s acting work exhibits influences from Cicely Tyson.
In other tragic news, Oscar-winning actress Cloris Leachman, best known for playing neighbor Phyllis in The Mary Tyler Moore show, died at age 94 on Tuesday.
Also this week, Jeanette Maus voice actor for Resident Evil 8: Village, sadly passed away aged just 39. She had been battling colon cancer.
Well, when I was younger they used to think I was related to Cicley Tyson, too. When Kimberly Elise came out, they swore I was related to her, too. Geez people. Maybe we’re from the same African tribes.
Cicely Tyson being played by Kimberly Elise would iconic. She would be amazing. When I first saw Kimberly Elise it was in The Ditch Diggers Daughters. It was about 4 black girls raised in Harlem including a 5th one a cousin who came to stay when his mother passed away but their father who didn’t finish school had big plans for all of them. He set the bar high wanted all the become Doctor’s and didn’t except nothing but A’s. He bought land built a house right across the street from a school that integrated. The strongest one who always got into trouble who always challenged him and left to find her own way. None other than Kimberly Elise.