Quinta Brunson joins Pharrell Williams' movie musical

The 'Abbott Elementary' star and creator is the latest addition to the cast, which also includes Da'Vine Joy Randolph.

Just weeks after the Season 3 finale of 'Abbott Elementary,' its creator and star Quinta Brunson has found her next film.
Dan MacMedan/USA TODAY NETWORK

Quinta Brunson has her next movie lined up — and it stars another emerging Philadelphia actress.

According to Deadline, Brunson has signed onto an untitled musical based on producer Pharrell Williams' childhood in Virginia Beach. The project, set in 1977, already features a stacked cast including Halle Bailey, Missy Elliott, Janelle Monaé, Brian Tyree Henry and recent Oscar winner Da'Vine Joy Randolph. Both Randolph and Brunson were born in Philly and attended Temple before achieving lucrative careers in Hollywood.


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Brunson shared the announcement on her Instagram story with the simple comment, "Excited."

Grammy-winning musician Anderson .Paak also joined the movie this week, though it's unclear which roles he or Brunson might play. Kelvin Harrison Jr., who most recently appeared as Martin Luther King Jr. in the National Geographic series "Genius," will lead the cast. French director Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Be Kind Rewind") is set to helm the project.

Though Brunson's resumé is more TV-heavy, particularly with her hit ABC sitcom "Abbott Elementary," she has acted in three movies. (Most notably, she played Oprah in "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.") She is also attached to the upcoming animated adaptation of "The Cat in the Hat."


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