MJ Rodriguez, Jharrel Jerome & More Join HBO's BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME

Variety reports that Jharrel Jerome, MJ Rodriguez, and seven more actors have joined the cast of HBO's adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates' "Between the World and Me."

Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Janet Mock, Jason Moran, Wendell Pierce, Kendrick Sampson, Yara Shahidi and Michelle Wilson have also joined the cast, which also includes Angela Bassett, Alicia Garza, Joe Morton, Phylicia Rashad, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter, Courtney B. Vance, Pauletta Washington, Susan Kelechi Watson, and Oprah Winfrey.

The adaptation is based on a stage production at the Apollo Theater in 2018. Kamilah Forbes, whose Broadway credits include work on "The Mountaintop," "Lucky Guy," and "Soul Train," directs.

The project is an exploration into Black Americans' fraught history within the country and questions including what it means to live in a Black body. The book is written in the style of a letter to Coates' teenage son, telling stories of Coates' experiences growing up in Baltimore's inner city, his growing fear of daily violence against the Black community and his notion that the structure of American society supports white supremacy.

Jerome is best known for his work in "Moonlight" and on "When They See Us." Rodriguez stars on "Pose," and played Angel in a 2011 off-Broadway revival of "Rent." She recently played Audrey in Pasadena Playhouse's production of "Little Shop of Horrors."

Watch a clip of Rodriguez in "Rent" here:

Read the original story on Variety.