| | | 2's casting directors have spoken.
|  | | Delroy Lindo |
|  | | Richard Williams |
After considering reader-suggested candidates to portray key roles in an upcoming movie about Richard Williams, you've chosen Delroy Lindo for the lead role, Brandy Norwood to play Venus Williams, Tatyana Ali to portray Serena Williams, Natalie Portman to play Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova to play herself.
Last week, we went through more than 1,500 messages to come up with five finalists for each of the major roles in the movie Fox TV is reportedly making about the famous tennis father. After posting polls Friday asking you to select actors best-suited for each major role, we received more than 14,500 votes for each character.
|  | | Brandy Norwood |
|  | | Venus Williams |
|  | | Tatyana Ali |
|  | | Serena Williams |
Lindo picked up 5,772 of 15,153 votes (38.0 percent) to beat out four other heavy-hitters to earn Page 2 readers' nod to play Richard Williams. Samuel L. Jackson was next with 3,199 votes (21.1 percent). Singer Ike Turner (2,901 votes, 19.1 percent) was a surprising third ahead of acting heavyweights Danny Glover (1,948 votes, 12.8 percent) and Morgan Freeman (1,333 votes, 8.8 percent).
Brandy Norwood's braids and big smile helped earn her the readers' choice to play two-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams. Norwood picked up 6,577 of 14,953 votes (43.9 percent) to beat out second place Gabrielle Union (4,378 votes, 29.2 percent) by 2,199 ballots. WWF's Jackie Moore wrestled 1,982 votes (13.2 percent) for third, followed by Angela Basset (1,202 votes, 8.0 percent) and twins Tia or Tomara Mowry (813 votes, 5.4 percent).
|  | | Natalie Portman |
|  | | Martina Hingis |
The battle to play Venus' sister, Serena, was the tightest of all the balloting. Tatyana Ali (4,903 votes, 32.7 percent) edged Sanaa Lathan (3,946 tallies, 26.3 percent) by 957 votes after 14,965 ballots came in. Lark Voorhies (3,481 votes, 23.2 percent) was close behind at third, followed by Janet Jackson (1,503 votes, 10.0 percent) and Tia or Tomara Mowry (1,132 votes, 7.5 percent).
Portman, the runaway favorite to portray Hingis, was the top vote-getter among all candidates. Apparently, voters believed portraying Queen Amadala in "Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace" gave her necessary experience in playing a tennis queen. Portman received 10,328 of the 15,766 votes (65.5 percent) to beat second-place Alyssa Milano (2,311 votes, 14.6 percent) by 8,017 tallies. Christina Ricci (2,189 votes, 13.8 percent), Hilary Swank (549 votes, 3.4 percent) and Janeane Garofolo (389 votes, 2.4 percent) rounded out the voting.
|  | | Anna Kournikova |
And, predictably, most Page 2 readers thought nobody was worthy enough to play Kournikova except Kournikova. Dazzled by her cameo performance as a motel manager in "Me, Myself and Irene" and the fact she'll have time to work on her acting while out of tennis with her foot injury, 51.8 percent of voters (9,227) picked Kournikova over second place Portia de Rossi (4,170 votes, 23.4 percent). Britney Spears (2,654 votes, 14.9 percent), Kirsten Dunst (1,347 votes, 7.5 percent) and Christina Aguilera (387 votes, 2.1 percent) rounded out the results of the 17,785 ballots received.
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