Keri Russell, Mahershala Ali set to join Matthew McConaughey in 'The Free State of Jones'

Keri Russell and Mahershala Ali will join Matthew McConaughey in historical drama, dubbed 'The Free State of Jones.'

According to Hollywood Reporter, McConaughey is portraying Newton Knight, a soldier for the Confederacy during the Civil War who became disillusioned with the South's cause, fled the battlefield, rallied supporters and declared a safe haven in Jones County, an area of southeastern Mississippi in opposition to the Confederacy.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw is already on board set as a slave who became Knight's common-law wife. Russell will play will Knight's first wife, who leaves him. When she sees him next, he is married to a slave. Ali will play a runaway slave whom Knight treats as an equal and who tries to rally black people to register to vote.