Son of the South, the upcoming Spike-Lee produced civil rights drama film, has tapped its cast. The movie is based on a true story.

Lucas Till, Lucy Hale, Lex Scott Davis, and Cedric the Entertainer are set to star. Julia Ormond, Sharonne Lanier, Brian Dennehy, and Chaka Forman have also landed roles.

The film is directed and written by Lee’s longtime editor, Barry Alexander Brown. The two have collaborated a multitude of times, with the first time being 1986’s She’s Gotta Have It. According to Variety, who broke this story, the film has already begun shooting in Montgomery, Alabama.

The film, based on the autobiography of Bob Zellner, The Wrong Side of Murder Creek: A White Southerner in the Freedom Movement, is about Zellner, the grandson of a KKK member who gets involved with the civil rights movement in the early 1960s.

It sounds like something that is in Lee’s recent wheelhouse, bearing thematic similarities to BlacKkKlansman

Till will star as Zellner, and Hale will be his girlfriend. Davis’ role is unknown. Cedric the Entertainer will be Rev. Ralph Abernathy and Lanier will be Rosa Parks. Julia Ormond will portray Virginia Durr, Dennehy will be Zellner’s grandfather and Chaka Forman will play his father, civil rights activist Jim Forman.

Davis broke out last year with starring roles in the films Superfly and The First Purge. On the television front, she starred in CBS’ short-lived Training Day series in 2017 and was the lead in the buzzy For Love magic pilot at ABC. She was set to star with Brenda Song in the upcoming Hulu comedy, Dollface, but it was recast with Shay Mitchell.

Cedric the Entertainer is running high on the success of his CBS series, The Neighborhood, as well as another series he stars in, TNT’s The Last O.G. Last year, he also starred in A24’s critically acclaimed film, First Reformed.

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Photo by Paul Archuleta/Getty Images, David Livingston/Getty Images

Sharonne Lanier

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