Orange Is the New Black star Uzo Aduba is set to join Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira’s new HBO Max series, Americanah. Based off of the Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie novel, Americanah will star Nyong’o as Ifemelu, a Nigerian immigrant in the United States, drawn back to the love she left behind. Aduba will play Aunty Uju, who is more like Ifemulu’s big sister. A doctor, Uju left Nigeria with her son, Dike, for a better life. Danai Gurira, who was nominated for a Tony for her Broadway play Eclipsed, wrote the pilot and serves as showrunner alongside Nyong’o. Ifemelu’s lost love, Obinze, will be played by Zackary Momoh (Harriet).
Nyong’o and Gurira initially planned for Americanah to be a film starring Nyong’o and David Oyelowo. Earlier this year, it was picked up as a limited series by burgeoning streamer HBO Max. This will be the two actresses’ third time teaming up. Nyong’o starred in Eclipsed, they shared the screen in Black Panther, and now, the book that swept the New York City book program!