Viola Davis set to play Harriet Tubman in upcoming biopic

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Viola Davis will reportedly be playing Harriet Tubman in an upcoming HBO telepic.

An article released Monday by Variety noted that Davis has been working to develop a project about the famous Underground Railroad conductor with Amblin TV and writer Kirk Ellis.

The project is set to take its inspiration from the book Bound For The Promised Land: Harriet Tubman: Portrait Of An American Hero by Kate Clifford Larson.

Davis and husband Julius Tennon will executive produce the as-yet-untitled project, which is still in early development stages. Although the television movie has not yet been approved for production, when it is greenlighted, filming will likely begin next year while Davis is on hiatus from filming the hit show How to Get Away with Murder.

Harriet Tubman, who eventually became the most famous conductor in the Underground Railroad, was born into slavery in Maryland in 1820. After running away in 1849, she returned to the South about 13 times over a period of a decade, helping 70 slaves escape to freedom, including members of her own family.

She became a leader in the Underground Railroad, which was made up of secret meeting points, safe houses, and hidden routes to the North, and served for the Union Army during the Civil War.