EXCLUSIVE: Regina King (Ray, Jerry Maguire) has joined Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, which marks the writer/director’s next film following his Oscar-winning Best Motion Moonlight. King, who is also a filmmaker, will play a key role in the film opposite Stephan James and newcomer KiKi Layne in the film which is underway in New York.

Adapted from the 1974 James Baldwin novel by the same name, the story is about a newly engaged Harlem woman who races against the clock to prove her lover’s innocence while pregnant with the couple’s first child.

The feature is being produced by Jenkins’ Pastel production banner and reteams Moonlight‘s producers from Brad Pitt’s company Plan B alongside Annapurna Pictures which is also financing the film.

King is coming off a series run on John Ridley’s anthology American Crime for ABC which garnered her three Emmy Award nominations and two wins. King previously inked a two-year pact for her and sister Reina King’s production company Royal Ties with ABC Studios.

King is also a director, having most recently helmed upcoming episodes of NBC’s hit This is Us and Showtime’s critically acclaimed Shameless. Her past directing credits include TNT’s Animal Kingdom and episodes of ShondaLand’s Scandal.

She is repped by ICM Partners, John Carrabino Management and Del Shaw.