Janelle Monae joins Harriet Tubman biopic

Singer-actor Janelle Monae has come aboard the cast of "Harriet", the biographical drama on the life of American abolitionist and political activist Harriet Tubman.

Cynthia Erivo is playing Tubman in the feature, which will be helmed by Kasi Lemmons, Variety reported.

Monae, 32, joins Leslie Odom Jr, Joe Alwyn, Jennifer Nettles, Clarke Peters, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Zackary Momoh, Deborah Ayorinde, and Vondie Curtis-Hall in the cast.

The film's story will follow Tubman, who escaped from slavery and subsequently fronted numerous missions to free dozens of enslaved people through the Underground Railroad in the pre-Civil War American south.

Lemmons has also penned the film's screenplay along with Gregory Allen Howard.

The film, which will start production this month, will be produced by Debra Martin Chase, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, and Howard.