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A casting debate has emerged around the actor who plays Cleopatra in Jada Pinkett Smith's new Netflix docuseries African Queens: Njinga, due to be released on 10 May, which will explore the world of prominent African women rulers.

Casualty star Adele James, who is biracial, has been cast as Cleopatra – however her casting has been disputed with calls to the film to be banned from Egypt, due to an age-old ambiguity over the racial identity of the real-life Cleopatra.

Cleopatra was born in Alexandria, a city in Egypt, in 69 BC, succeeding her Egyptian ruler father Ptolemy XII in 51BC. Her mother's racial identity is unknown: some Egyptians have reacted with horror to the denial of records which show Cleopatra was Macedonian-Greek.

Netflix released the latest trailer for the four-part docuseries last week. However, days later - on Sunday 16 April – lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary filed a complaint against Netflix, requesting that Netflix faced “necessary legal measures” preventing the docuseries' distribution in Egypt. He believes the show features content that violates Egypt's media laws; he also accused Netflix of trying to 'promote the Afrocentric thinking ... which includes slogans and writings aimed at distorting and erasing the Egyptian identity.'

Meanwhile, Egypt’s former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass told Egyptian press (reported by BBC News): "This is completely fake. Cleopatra was Greek, meaning that she was light-skinned, not Black.”

Hawass said the only rulers of Egypt known to have been black were the Kushite kings of the 25th Dynasty (747-656 BC). He said: “Netflix is trying to provoke confusion by spreading false and deceptive facts that the origin of the Egyptian civilisation is black.”

The show's official synopsis reads: "From Executive Producer Jada Pinkett Smith comes a new documentary series exploring the lives of prominent and iconic African Queens. The first season will cover the life of Njinga, the complex, captivating, and fearless 17th century warrior queen of Ndongo and Matamba, in modern day Angola. The nation's first female ruler, Njinga earned a reputation for her blend of political and diplomatic skill with military prowess and became an icon of resistance."

The Red Table Talk host has narrated, and executive produced the series, which will premiere on the streaming service on 10 May. The first season focuses on Njinga, queen of Ndongo and Matamba. The overall concept is for the show to be commissioned for further seasons to focus on various African rulers.

In a statement, Jada added: "There are so many stories to be told in regard to the Black experience globally. I think that it's important to tell the stories now because we can and haven't always been able to. Even though there's a lot more work to do, we're at a place now where we have the ability and the opportunity to tell stories that have been forgotten as well as the stories that are part of our everyday lives and what a gift that is.

"It's a testament to standing on the shoulders of all of those that came before us that didn't have the opportunities that we have but were part of carving out the path for all of us to get to where we are today. African Queens is in honour of that," she concluded.

In a separate interview with Tudum, 51-year-old Jada explained that she wanted to highlight these queens' stories for personal reasons, which stem from her daughter. "This particular project went through many different machinations, but it started with Willow… I really wanted to represent Black women," she said. "We don't often get to see or hear stories about Black queens, and that was really important for me, as well as for my daughter, and just for my community to be able to know those stories because there are tons of them! The sad part is that we don't have ready access to these historical women who were so powerful and were the backbones of African nations."

The story of Queen Njinga is re-created by actor Adesuwa Oni, while Jada narrates the story. She also executive-produces alongside Westbrook Studios' Miguel Melendez, Terence Carter and Sahara Bushue, as well as Nutopia's Jane Root, Maxine Watson and Ben Goold.

African Queens: Njinga will premiere on 15 February 2023 on Netflix.

GLAMOUR has contacted Netflix for comment.

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