EXCLUSIVE: The Good Place‘s William Jackson Harper is set for a recurring role on Amazon’s The Underground Railroad, Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s bestselling novel, from Jenkins’ PASTEL and Brad Pitt’s Plan B,
The story centers on young Cora, a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood—where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape.
Harper will play Royal, a freeborn black man who Cora encounters on her epic journey.
Harper is currently in production on the fourth and final season of Emmy-nominated NBC comedy The Good Place in which he co-stars in the role of Chidi Anagonye. He most recently starred in A24’s Midsommer. He’ll next be seen in a guest-starring role in Amazon’s Jack Ryan and in Focus Features’ Untitled Todd Haynes project. He’s repped by AC Management, UTA and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
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