Daveed Diggs, a Tony winner for his performance as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton, will take on another historical figure, former-slave-turned-abolitionist Frederick Douglass, in the upcoming limited series The Good Lord Bird for Showtime. The series is co-written by Fear the Walking Dead's Mark Richard and Coast of Utopia Tony nominee Ethan Hawke, who will also star as abolitionist John Brown.
Diggs was most recently seen on the N.Y.C. stage in the Public Theater's White Noise earlier this year. After starring in the original Broadway cast of Hamilton, Diggs set his sights on TV, playing roles on black-ish, The Get Down, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Diggs is also set to star in the upcoming series Snowpiercer for TBS.
Based on a 2013 novel by James McBride, the series focuses on the relationship between Brown and a slave known as Onion—to be played by Joshua Johnson-Lionel—both of whom participated in an 1859 raid that helped spark the Civil War. Albert Hughes will direct the eight-episode series.Diggs is not the only Broadway star and Tony winner set to bring a historical abolitionist character to the screen; Cynthia Erivo, a fellow 2016 Tony Award winner (for The Color Purple), stars in the upcoming Harriet Tubman biopic Harriet, hitting movie theatres this November.
