Samira Wiley is prioritizing her health and has withdrawn from the upcoming Broadway revival of "Proof" due to an undisclosed health issue. The show's production team announced on March 17 that Samira had to step down from the role due to a "treatable medical condition that requires her full attention," offering their "complete support and well wishes" to the "The Handmaid's Tale" actress.
In her absence, Kara Young has been cast to play the role of Claire alongside Ayo Edebiri, Don Cheadle, and Jin Ha. E! News reached out to Samira's representative for additional comment, but has not yet received a response.
This news comes as Samira is facing a change in her personal life. Earlier this year, she and her wife, Lauren Morelli, who share a 4-year-old daughter, George Elizabeth, filed for divorce after nearly a decade of marriage. The couple said in a statement to Out, published on Jan. 29, "After nine years together, we have decided to end our marriage. However, our lifelong commitment to co-parenting will forever remain."
The pair met on the set of "Orange is the New Black," where Lauren served as a producer, before tying the knot in 2017. After welcoming their baby girl, Samira shared how their fertility journey tested their relationship. "It really forced us in a good way to do some real looking at our relationship and ask questions we might not have if we were able to have a baby without this much planning," she told Entertainment Tonight in 2021. "I kept having this phrase, 'I want to create a soft space for this baby to land,' because I feel like there are so many babies that are born into families that are not ready for them."
Despite their decision to part ways, the couple knew from the beginning that parenting their daughter would always be their top priority. "I say to any couple - gay or straight - that's hoping to have a family to work on yourselves as a couple first," Samira explained. "And make sure you're ready that way, because the little boy or the little girl that you're going to have is going to need a soft, cushy place to land, and that's going to depend on your love for each other."
