Keyshia Cole Tells Her On-Screen Life Story in New Lifetime Biopic Keyshia Cole: This is my story.
The singer-songwriter portrays himself in the film on his journey from his early days in Oakland – to his success as a multi-platinum recording artist.
[Keyshia Cole and Frankie Lons are shown in the image above]
The film marks Cole’s acting debut and chronicles some of the most difficult aspects of her life, including her traumatic childhood, her placement in foster care and then her adoption while her mother, Frankie Lons, struggled with drug addiction.
Lons died on her 61st birthday in July 2021 from an accidental overdose.
Related story: The trailer for ‘Keyshia Cole: This Is My Story’ shows the singer looking back on her traumatic childhood (video)
During a screening of the biopic and Q&A this week in Los Angeles, Cole said she struggled to film some of the scenes focusing on her mother.
“It was tough,” she told the audience gathered at the Grammy Museum.
” The safe [scene] was really tough,” Cole explained. “The rehab scene was really tough.”
Still, Cole said the intense scenes helped her deal with her mother’s death.
“It was also something like my last goodbye, in a way,” she explained.
Veteran actress Debbi Morgan of All my children fame plays Lons in the film.
Related story: Keyshia Cole addresses the death of mum Frankie Lons: “We will miss you”
Cole, 41, admitted to crying while filming parts of the film, but said Morgan was very supportive.
“She kept saying, ‘I feel like your mom is here,'” Cole recalled, Morgan telling him.
“‘Not everyone’s perfect,'” Morgan reminded her.
Lifetime describes the film as “a story of childhood trauma, tragedy, the complexity of love, and overcoming obstacles to becoming the best version of yourself.”
The film is directed by D’Angela Proctor and Manu Boyer from a screenplay written by Angelica Cheri.
Swirl Films and Big Dreams produced the film for Lifetime. Executive producers are Eric Tomosunas, Leslie Greif, D’Angela Proctor and Keyshia Cole. The co-executive producer is Ron Fair, Cole’s longtime musical and A&R collaborator. Fair also supervised the music, and Grammy Award-winning Warryn Campbell composed the film’s original music.
The film also features a new song recorded by Cole called “Forever is a Thing”.
Keyshia Cole: This is my story premieres Saturday, June 24 at 8/7 p.m. as part of the lifetime celebration of Black Music Month.