Leslie Odom Jr. Is joining fellow Tony Award-winner Cynthia Orivo in the feature film “Harriet,” a biopic that tracks Harriet Tubman from escaped slave through her work leading others to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

Mr. Odom is a Carnegie Mellon graduate who has a role in the filmed-in-Pittsburgh “One Dollar,” a CBS All Access series. The star of Broadway’s “Hamilton” as Aaron Burr, Mr. Odom is set for a concert with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on Oct. 20. 

He also has been seen on the big screen in “Murder on the Orient Express” and “recently wrapped production of John Ridley's ‘Needle in a Timestack,’ “ according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Harriet” is set to begin filming next month in Virginia, THR reported.

Ms. Orivo, a British import and Tony-winner for “The Color Purple” in 2016, portrays Harriet. Mr. Odom won his best actor in a musical award the same Broadway season as his co-star. He joins a cast including Jennifer Nettles, Clarke Peters and Joe Alwyn.

"This is the story of a seemingly powerless woman who accomplished the extraordinary to save her loved ones, and in the process became a leader of and inspiration for her people,” said producers Debra Martin Chase and Daniela Taplin Lundberg in a statement. “While Harriet Tubman is a household name, most people don’t know the breadth of her story — not only was she a conductor on the Underground Railroad, but she was a spy for the Union army and remains one of the few women to have led an armed expedition in U.S. history.”

Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960. Twitter: @SEberson_pg.

First Published: September 14, 2018, 2:18 a.m.