Glover Rejects Lawrence Role

Hollywood star Danny Glover has apparently turned down a role in a upcoming TV film about the campaign surrounding Stephen Lawrence's murder. According to the black newspaper, The Voice, the Lethal Weapon star said he was too busy to play Stephen's dad Neville, who has campaigned tirelessly for justice since his 18-year-old son was stabbed to death by a gang of white youths at Eltham bus stop in South London, in April 1993. Produced by Granada Television, the drama begins at the scene of the murder and then trace events in the years afterwards, including the inquest into his death, the failed private prosecutions brought by the family against the suspects, and the recent judicial inquiry. Granada declined to comment on the casting for the film, as the full line-up had not yet been confirmed, but Marianne Jean-Baptiste is strongly tipped to take the role of his wife Doreen. She was nominated for an Oscar for her part in Mike Leigh's Secrets And Lies. Filming begins next month, with a Spring transmission planned. Granada has long been unafraid to tackle controversial issues through drama. In 1990 its Who Bombed Birmingham? programme raised public awareness of the Guilford Four's wrongful convictions and Jimmy McGovern's Hillsborough drama raised questions about the role of the South Yorkshire police force in the 1989 football disaster.