Naomie Harris wants to play Michelle Obama

26 January 2017

Naomie Harris wants to play Michelle Obama in a movie.

Naomie Harris

The British actress thinks there would be no "greater honour" than to portray the "inspiring" former First Lady - who is married to ex-US president Barack Obama, who left office last week - in a biopic.

She told The Sun newspaper: "I couldn't think of anything being a greater honour or a more inspiring and wonderful story to be part of."

Earlier this week, the 40-year-old actress was shortlisted for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as a heroin-addicted mother in 'Moonlight' and Naomie admits the nomination meant a "great deal" to her as she hopes the exposure for the film - which received seven other nods - will attract a greater audience.

She said: "It means a great deal to be recognised and acknowledged for your work.

"It is also particularly important with a film like 'Moonlight', as it is such a small-budget movie.

"There's something about this film that really moves people and changes the way people see the world and that's the kind of movie you want people to see, especially now."

Naomie previously admitted she couldn't bring herself to watch the Academy Award nominations live on TV because she was so nervous.

She said: "I was at home with my mum, and I started to watch the announcement, but I couldn't cope with the anticipation of it all. My brother called to say I had been nominated."

Asked how she celebrated her nomination, she added: "I was just having a lovely walk. It was very grounding."

And Naomie is amazed by how well the movie - which also stars Mahershala Ali, who too received a nod for his role in the film - has been received.

She added: "You really never know in this crazy business what's going to resonate with people. What I did know is that I read the script, and it made me cry three or four times. I knew it was such a beautiful film, and I knew from Barry [Jenkins'] previous film, 'Medicine for Melancholy,' that he was an extraordinary filmmaker.

"Whether or not people responded to it the way I did, you can never know that. Everyone who signed on for it did it because it was a passion project."