Uzo Aduba Joins AMERICANAH on HBO Max

Variety reports that Broadway and television star Uzo Aduba has joined the cast of "Americanah" on HBO Max. She will star opposite Academy Award-winner Lupita Nyong'o.

The series is based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's best-selling novel of the same name.

"Americanah" is a 10-episode limited series that tells the story of Ifemelu (Nyong'o), a self-assured young woman raised in Nigeria, who as a teenager falls in love with her classmate Obinze (Momoh). Living in a military-ruled country, they each depart for the west, with Ifemelu heading for America, where, despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple for the first time with what it means to be black. Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead begins living undocumented in London.

Aduba will play Aunty Uju, Ifemelu's young aunt and confidant.

Playwright and actor Danai Gurira wrote the pilot and be the showrunner on the series.

Aduba's Broadway credits include "Godspell" and "Coram Boy." She starred in "The Wiz Live!" on NBC. She is best known for her Emmy-winning role on "Orange is the New Black."

Read the original story at Variety.