Tony Winner Daveed Diggs Joins Cast of ‘Wonder’

Daveed Diggs, winner of a Tony this year for his Broadway role in Hamilton, has joined the cast of Wonder, according to Deadline.

Helmed by Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), the story centers on Auggie, a 5th grade boy (Jacob Tremblay) born with craniofacial anomalies so significant he spends much of his preschool years hiding under toy astronaut helmet. He is now entering mainstream classes at school for the first time. He faces the challenge of convincing his classmates that he is just an ordinary kid despite his different appearance. Diggs will play Mr. Browne, an English teacher at the boy’s school whose approach to literature is to teach what it means to be human. Julia Roberts also stars.

Steve Conrad (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) is adapting the screenplay from R.J. Palacio’s best-selling novel. David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman are producing under their Mandeville Films banner.

Diggs originated the roles of Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette in Hamilton, and his final Broadway performance was this week. He recently joined the cast of HBO’s Tour De Pharmacy, a sports mockumentary. He will also appear in the next season of ABC’s Black-ish.

Lionsgate’s Wonder is set to go into production soon and is scheduled to bow in theaters on April 7, 2017.