EXCLUSIVE: Fred Hechinger (Eighth Grade) has joined the cast of Amazon’s The Underground Railroad, Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s bestselling novel, from Jenkins’ Pastel and Brad Pitt’s Plan B.

The story centers on young Cora, a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood — where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and try to escape.

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Hechinger will play Young Ridgeway, the younger version of the character portrayed by Joel Edgerton.

2020 Amazon Prime Video Pilots & Series Order

Directed by Oscar and Golden Globe winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) and based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling novel The Underground Railroad, the series is executive produced by Jenkins’ Pastel and Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment.

Hechinger recently wrapped a major role in Paul Greengrass’ News of the World opposite Tom Hanks for Universal. He next will be seen as one of the leads opposite Amy Adams in Joe Wright’s The Woman in the Window for Scott Rudin and 20th Century Fox as well as one of the leads of the Fear Street franchise based on the popular R.L Stein book series for 20th Century Fox and Chernin. Coming up, he will be seen in the indie comedy Two Against Nature. Hechinger is repped by Abrams Artists Agency, Brillstein and attorney Ryan LeVine.