Viola Davis Will Play Harriet Tubman in HBO Movie

Liz Raftery
Viola Davis | Photo Credits: Corbis

Viola Davis will play Harriet Tubman in an upcoming HBO biopic about the abolitionist, Varietyreports.

The project hails from Steven Spielberg's production company, Amblin TV, and is based on the Tubman biography Bound for the Promised Land by Kate Clifford Larson. The How to Get Away with Murder star is also executive-producing the project, along with her husband Julius Tennon.

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The film will be written by Kirk Ellis, who also penned HBO's John Adams. It is listed as in development and has not yet been given the green light by HBO, Variety notes, but filming will likely begin during Davis' hiatus after Season 2 of How to Get Away with Murder.

Harriet Tubman led more than 300 slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad during the Civil War era. NBC is also planning a miniseries about the Underground Railroad that will be produced by Stevie Wonder.

Do you think Davis will make a good Harriet Tubman?

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