"Dreamgirls" actress lands "Agency" role

By Kimberly Nordyke

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Dreamgirls" co-star Anika Noni Rose will join R&B singer Jill Scott in a feature adaptation of the novel "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency."

Rose is set to play the role of Grace Makutsi, the secretary/assistant detective to Precious Ramotswe (Scott), who owns a Botswana-based detective agency run by women. Lucian Msamati also is set to play Ramotswe's fiance in the film.

Anthony Minghella ("The English Patient") will direct from an adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's novel. Mirage Prods., the company Minghella runs with filmmaker Sydney Pollack, will produce with the Weinstein Co.

It's likely that a TV series based on "Agency" will follow the movie, but no deals are in place.

Rose, a Tony winner in 2004 for her role in the Broadway musical "Caroline, or Change," is on the small screen in USA Network's limited series "The Starter Wife," and next appears in the film "One Part Sugar" opposite Danny DeVito. She also recently signed on to voice Princess Tiana in Disney's animated musical feature "The Princess and the Frog."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter