Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman in "Harriet"
photo: Focus Features

In today's most bonkers news, apparently an unnamed studio executive in Hollywood suggested that Julia Roberts play Harriet Tubman in the upcoming film about the activist's life. 

In an interview with the film's production company, Focus Features, the film's writer and producer Gregory Allen Howard shared that the idea for the biopic came to him in 1994. It took 26 years for the film to finally come to fruition thanks, in part, to the success of movies like 12 Years a Slave and Black Panther, according to Howard. 

The climate in Hollywood at the time of its introduction was so backward that one studio head thought Julia Roberts could play the lead role, revealed Howard. To make matters worse, when it was pointed out that Roberts could never play the black activist for obvious reasons, the unnamed executive said, "It was so long ago. No one is going to know the difference," according to Howard. 

The film industry has a long and torrid history with whitewashing and lack of representation. 

What makes the issue even more frustrating is that the idea for Harriet was more than two decades in the making, and only now, when it's become clear that non-white narratives are marketable and desired by audiences, are producers willing to take a chance on such an important historical figure. 

The silver lining here is that her story is finally being told and in a really honorable way. Howard, who studied the activist at Princeton, sees Harriet Tubman for the superhero that she truly is and explained in his interview that this movie is his "valentine to black women." 

Cynthia Erivo is playing the inspirational Harriet Tubman in a biopic about the activist's life, and it looks like the action-adventure film it should be. 

Howard is a black screenwriter who studied Harriet Tubman's life as a history major at Princeton, so he definitely has the chops to take on such an influential story. In his interview with Focus Features, he shared that he wanted Tubman to be viewed as a "superhero" and be a symbol of empowerment for black women. 

"I wanted them to be able to go to the movies on Saturday and see this young black woman take on this incredible power structure and triumph over it," he said. 

Just in case there was any confusion... this is Julia Roberts. Hopefully it's clear to everyone why she can't play the legendary abolitionist and former slave who rescued thousands through the Underground Railroad. 

The Harriet Tubman biopic was Howard's first assignment when he entered the film industry in the '90s, according to the interview. Unfortunately, the climate at the time wasn't conducive to creating such an important project. Nearly two decades later, it's finally coming to fruition and in the best way. 

But seriously? Even in 1994, I can't imagine this conversation could have even taken place. How thick do you have to be to suggest Julia Roberts as Harriet Tubman?

This news confused everyone, and rightly so. 

Sophie Turner wittily tweeted her reaction, naturally. "Pardon?" she replied after reading the news. It's truly baffling that anyone could have thought Roberts would have been an appropriate actor to take on the role. 

Many people are frustrated that the executive's name is protected. Meanwhile, Julia Roberts is on blast. 

"Why is Julia Roberts named but not this studio exec?" actor Billy Flynn replied to Variety's coverage of the story. Other people felt similarly and responded with tweets asking to expose the racist executive.  

And maybe, most important, why did this film take more than two decades to be made when producers liked the script from the beginning?

"I don’t know what’s worse: Such a suggestion or the fact that it took 25 years to finally make the film," wrote Sophia Tesfaye in a reply. Howard pointed out in his interview that from the beginning, the studio heads really liked the script and the story idea. Howard said that after 12 Years a Slave rocked the box office in 2013, he approached his agent with the story again: "You can't say this kind of story won’t make money now."