Underground has found its Harriet Tubman. The WGN America smash has cast Aisha Hinds (True Blood, Star Trek: Into Darkness) as Harriet Tubman for its second season, which begins filming on Aug. 29.
Tubman is revered for her work on the Underground Railroad for which the show was named, where she led hundreds of enslaved blacks to freedom. Tubman herself was born into slavery, and she continuously risked her life to bring others to freedom even after she escaped herself. Underground tells the story of an America on the brink of civil war, one in which enslaved blacks struggle constantly for their own freedom.
During its first season, Underground delivered three million total viewers weekly, making it WGN America’s most-watched original program ever.
Amirah Vann, who played Ernestine in season one, has been upgraded to a series regular for the show’s second season. Also joining the cast for season two are guest stars Jasika Nicole (Scandal) as Georgia, an abolitionist with a covert station along the Railroad and some other secrets of a more personal nature; Jesse Luken (Justified) as Smoke, the second in command of Patty Cannon’s gang of slave catchers; and Michael Trotter (Rosewood) as Biographer, a cautious man who often observes instead of acting.
The news of Hinds’ casting, along with the stellar group of supporting performers the show has picked up, should continue to make Underground must-watch television when it returns in early 2017. Until then, rejoice in the fact that Harriet Tubman is not only the face of the new $20 bill, but also one of the faces of WGN America’s runaway hit.