Since his days as Hamilton's first Burr cranked his career up several notches, Leslie Odom Jr. has been cropping up in several movies. He'll now be part of the cast for The Sopranos prequel The Many Saints Of Newark (or Newark as it has sometimes simply been called).
Along with Lawrence Konner, Sopranos creator David Chase wrote the script for the film, which has the Newark riots of the 1960s as its backdrop. Alan Taylor, who directed several episodes of the series, is calling the shots this time. Saints will chart the buildup of the mafia family eventually run by Tony Soprano on the show.
Alessandro Nivola anchors the film as Richard "Dickie" Moltisanti, one of the architects of the crime family, while the cast also includes Ray Liotta, Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Billy Magnussen, Corey Stoll and Michael Gandolfini, playing young Tony, the role made famous by his late father James. We're also promised other characters from the series in younger form.
Odom Jr.'s role has yet to be announced, though given that the story delves into the conflict between Italian and African-American gangs, he'll be key to going up against Moltisanti. The Many Saints Of Newark will be out next year.
As for Odom Jr. himself, he'll also be seen in Harriet Tubman biopic Harriet, John Ridley's sci-fi pic Needle In A Timestack and the Sia-directed Music.
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