LaKeith Stanfield Will Be Playing This Top Chef Star In Upcoming Biopic
Chef Kwame Onwuachi was so professional in season 13 of Top Chef that UpRoxx nicknamed the then-26-year-old "The Prodigy." After earning sixth place in the competition, Onwuachi went on to open his own fine-dining restaurant, became the executive chef at acclaimed restaurant Kith/Kin, and won accolades such as the 2019 Rising Star Chef of the Year Award from the James Beard Foundation (via Eater). Now a movie is being made about his life as a Black chef.
Actor LaKeith Stanfield, known for his roles in Sorry to Bother You, Get Out, Atlanta, and Judas and the Black Messiah (via IMDb), will play the role of Onwuachi in an unnamed film based on the chef's memoir, Notes From a Young Black Chef, released in 2019 (via Eater). No director is attached yet, Variety reports, and the story will depict Onwuachi's journey from his childhood in the Bronx to his time working in the cutthroat kitchens of some of America's most lauded dining establishments.
The film may shed light on systemic racism in the restaurant industry
In Notes From a Young Black Chef, Kwame Onwuachi describes the verbal abuse he endured when working at famous restaurants such as Thomas Keller's Per Se in New York City (via Eater). "I felt like I was being called the N-word with no one actually saying it," an excerpt from the book reads. "It was left to me to decide whether it was because I was Black or because I was just me that I was the only one greeted with a growling 'Get the f— back in the prep kitchen!'"
The film, in which Onwuachi himself will say a few lines (via The Hollywood Reporter), is likely to portray the challenges faced by Black chefs in a white-dominated industry. While the film remains in production, Onwuachi is returning to Top Chef — this time, as a judge for season 18, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "America is diverse, and it should be reflected in the panel," Onwuachi told the publication.