Janelle Monae is joining Cynthia Erivo in Fox Searchlight’s Harriet Tubman biopic, Harriet.
Harriet, which will film in Virginia, will track Tubman’s journey from escaped slave to conductor on the Underground Railroad, successfully leading dozens of slaves to freedom from the pre-Civil War era South.
Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, Jennifer Nettles and Clarke Peters also star. Kasi Lemmons will direct from a screenplay she co-wrote with Gregory Allen Howard. Howard, Debra Martin Chase with Martin Chase Productions, and Daniela Taplin Lundberg with Stay Gold Features will produce.
Focus Features president of production Josh McLaughlin will oversee for the studio.
Monae, who is repped by WME, will next be seen in Robert Zemeckis’ Welcome to Marwen.
This article originally appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.
