Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr. will join the cast of The Sopranos prequel, The Many Saints of Newark , joining several other big-name stars who have already signed on to the highly-anticipated David Chase film.
Playbill reported that there are no exact details regarding the character Odom will play in the movie. Alan Taylor will direct and the script will be penned by Chase and Lawrence Konner. Taylor was the director of many episodes of The Sopranos . He won an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the episode “Kennedy and Heidi.”
The show was honored with 21 Primetime Emmys during its eight-year run on HBO from 1999-2007.
Odom joins a cast which includes Tony nominee Billy Magnussen, Corey Stoll, Alessandro Nivola, Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Ray Liotta, John Magaro, and Michael Gandolfini. Gandolfini will portray a young Tony Soprano, a role originated by his father James Gandolfini in the HBO series.
The Tony-award winning actor scored a golden statuette for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in 2016. He also won a Grammy Award for his participation in the original Hamilton Broadway soundtrack.
Odom’s most recent work includes the film Murder On The Orient Express, and he will be seen in no less than four feature films this year including Only , Music , Needle in a Haystack, and Harriet, reported Deadline . The actor will also star in a comedy pilot for ABC. Odom has released several solo albums and his debut album, Leslie Odom Jr., hit number one on the Billboard Jazz charts.
Odom is married to fellow Broadway actress Nicolette Kloe Robinson, who recently starred in the play Waitress. The two share a daughter named Lucille Ruby.
As Inquisitr previously reported, The Many Saints of Newark will trace the original roots of many of The Sopranos’ most iconic characters.
The movie will reportedly be set in Newark, New Jersey, in the year 1967, during a time when race riots rose after African-Americans that lived in the area faced police brutality. Deadline writer Mike Fleming revealed that Odom will “figure directly into that conflict which involves Dickie Moltisanti (Nivola), who is the father of Tony Soprano’s lieutenant Christopher (played in the series by Michael Imperioli).”
Rumor has it that some of the same characters that were featured in the television series will also make an appearance in the film, although none of that has yet been officially confirmed by New Line Cinema.
The Many Saints of Newark is scheduled to be released by New Line on September 25, 2020.