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AOL Build Speaker Series - Cynthia Erivo, 'The Color Purple'

Source: Roy Rochlin / Getty

We will finally see Cynthia Erivo on the big screen, as the British talent will play Harriet Tubman in a new biopic.

According to Deadline, Erivo has been tapped as the title character in Macro/New Balloon’s film Harriet, a biopic about famous abolitionist and warrior Harriet Tubman. Seith Mann is attached to direct from a script by Gregory Allen Howard.

Erivo, who is nominated for a Best Musical Theater Album Grammy (show premieres Feb 12), won a Tony for her performance as “Celie” in Broadway’s The Color Purple. She’s also appeared in Netflix’s Chewing Gum and Mr. Selfridge.

Tubman is most known for her fearless, life-risking work to bring hundreds of slaves to the north through the Underground Railroad. But the iconic freedom fighter spent her entire life helping African-Americans get free beyond the 90-mile journey, by serving as a Civil War spy and opening up the Home for the Aged. As an American legend, the decision was made last year to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill with Tubman.

We can’t wait for this film!

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