Kelly Marie Tran to star as sexual assault activist Amanda Nguyen in biopic

The story of Amanda Nguyen, the young woman who was raped as a college student at Harvard and went on to become a sexual assault activist, is coming to the big screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kelly Marie Tran will star in and produce the biopic about her friend, who founded civil rights accelerator Rise and wrote the Survivor’s Bill Of Rights.

“I am deeply grateful to Kelly Marie Tran, Madica Productions and Significant Productions for telling not only my story, but also the story of billions of survivors across the world who are fighting to have our voices heard and our rights recognized,” Nguyen said in a statement. “Stories are how we tell ourselves dreams are possible. Societal stigma silences rape survivors. My story is not mine alone. I hear from countless survivors the strength they gain from hearing other survivors share their story. My hope is that this will make them feel less alone. I am grateful to Kelly for her friendship, for her understanding of our shared Vietnamese American heritage and for her belief that this is a story worth telling.”

In her own statement, Tran added, “Over the years, Amanda’s activism has changed the lives of billions, as she continues to make our world safer for sexual assault survivors everywhere. Her courage inspires me every day, and I am honored to help tell her story.”

According to THR, filmmaker Yi Tang is in talks to write and direct the project. Forest Whitaker is on board as an executive producer through his company Significant Productions alongside producer Nina Yang Bongiovi; on the Madica Productions side, Shawn Sachs will executive produce with the company’s founder Jeff Tahler producing. Nguyen will also produce, putting the power to tell her story in her own hands–which can be an unfortunate rarity in Hollywood.