Daveed Diggs to Play Frederick Douglass in Showtime Slavery Drama GOOD LORD BIRD

Daveed Diggs and Wyatt Russell have joined Showtime's limited series drama set in pre-Civil War America, Good Lord Bird, according to The Hollywood Reporter. They join a cast that includes Ethan Hawke and Joshua Johnson-Lionel.

Good Lord Bird is based on James McBride's National Book Award-winning novel and centers on the relationship between abolitionist John Brown (Hawke) and a young slave nicknamed Onion (Johnson-Lionel), who joins Brown's motley family and eventually takes part in the 1859 raid on an army depot in Harper's Ferry, Va. Brown hoped the raid would lead to a slave uprising, but instead it became one of the key events leading to the Civil War.

Diggs will play Frederick Douglass, the slave-turned-abolitionist leader who knew Brown but advised against the Harper's Ferry raid.

Russell will play Brown's nemesis Jeb Stuart, a U.S. Army officer (and later Confederate general) who helped repel the Harper's Ferry raid.

The series is being co-written by Hawke with Mark Richard. Albert Hughes will direct; he replaces Anthony Hemingway, who had to depart due to scheduling issues.

Diggs is best known for his unforgettable performance as Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson in the smash hit Hamilton for which he won a Tony Award. Other credits include Word Becomes Flesh, In the Red and Brown Water, Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, The Tempest, Troilus and Cressida, and Mirrors in Every Corner. Diggs will soon star in the TBS series Snowpiercer.

Read the original article on The Hollywood Reporter.