Mahershala Ali to Play Boxing Legend Jack Johnson in Limited Series in Development at HBO
Joe Otterson TV ReporterMahershala Ali is attached to play boxer Jack Johnson in a limited series currently in the works at HBO, Variety has learned.The six-part series is titled “Unruly.” It is described as an unapologetically Black, no-holds-barred telling of Johnson’s life. The first ever Black heavyweight boxing champion, the show would follow Johnson’s rise to greatness and the costs he paid for his skin color and defiance.The series is based on the PBS documentary “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson,” which was produced and directed by Ken Burns, as well as the accompanying book by Geoffrey C.