Lucy Hale, Lucas Till to star in Spike Lee's 'Son of the South'

Actors Lucy Hale and Lucas Till will be playing the lead in the civil rights drama, "Son of the South", to be executive produced by filmmaker Spike Lee.

The project, to be directed by Barry Alexander Brown, is an adaptation of "The Wrong Side of Murder Creek: A White Southerner in the Freedom Movement", an autobiography of Bob Zellner, reported Variety.

Till, 28, will portray Zeller, an Alabama native and grandson of a Ku Klux Klan member who is pulled into the centre of the civil rights movement in 1961.

The actor is best known for portraying Havok in "X-Men" films "First Class" and "Days of Future Past".

Hacy, 29, will play Zeller's girlfriend Carol Ann in the film.

The cast also includes Lex Scott Davis, Julia Ormond, Cedric the Entertainer, Sharonne Lanier, Brian Dennehy and Chaka Forman.

Lee and Brown are longtime collaborators, having previously worked on "She's Gotta Have It", "Do the Right Thing", "Malcolm X", "Inside Man" and most recently "BlacKkKlansman".

For "BlacKkKlansman", Lee won an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay, while Brown had received a nod for best editing.

"Son of the South" recently started production in Montgomery, Alabama. The project will be produced by Colin Bates, Eve Pomerance, Bill Black, Stan Erdreich and River Bend Pictures.