Ava DuVernay Is Turning the Nonfiction Book Caste Into a Movie

The film’s cast includes Aunjanue Ellis, Vera Farmiga, Nick Offerman, Victoria Pedretti, and Finn Wittrock.

The next film from Ava DuVernay will be Caste, based on the non-fiction book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson. As of this moment, the film is being shot all over the world in Savannah, Berlin, and Delhi. Here is an excerpt of the book’s description, as provided by Amazon:

“In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched, and beautifully written narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.”

DuVernay made her directorial debut with I Will Follow before becoming the first Black woman nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director with Selma. DuVernay was nominated for an Academy Award for the same film as well. Besides that, she also directed the documentary 13th, the movie A Wrinkle in Time, and the miniseries When They See Us.

RELATED: Here’s Every Ava DuVernay Film, Ranked

Actors Attached To The Movie

The cast list for the movie, which has been recently updated by THR, is quite star-studded. Playing the lead role in the film will be Aunjanue Ellis, who will be joined by Vera Farmiga, Nick Offerman, Victoria Pedretti, and Finn Wittrock. Other cast members in the film are Niecy Nash, Jon Benthal, Audra McDonald, Connie Nielson, Blair Underwood, and Isha Blaaker.

On television, Ellis previously appeared as a main cast member in HBO’s Lovecraft Country and Netflix’s When They See Us, both of which earned Ellis an Emmy nomination. Notable, the latter was written and directed by DuVernay, adapting the true story of the Central Park Five. In film, she appeared in King Richard, If Beale Street Could Talk, and Undercover Brother.

Farmiga first rose to prominence in Down to the Bone before going on to appear in Up in the Air, a role which earned her an Academy Award nomination. Like Ellis, she was also in and nominated for an Emmy for When They See Us. Horror fans, however, will probably recognize Farmiga for her starring role in The Conjuring film series and Bates Motel.

Pedretti is best known for her work with Mike Flanagan in The Haunting, an anthology series consisting of The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. Most recently, she appeared in the Netflix series You as Love Quinn, a role that she is set to reprise in the second part of season 4. In film, Pedretti has appeared in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Shirley.

Wittrock has been nominated for an Emmy twice for his work with Ryan Murphy. First, for American Horror Story: Freak Show, the fourth season of the anthology show, and American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, the second season of the anthology show. Wittrock was also in If Beale Street Could Talk and made his feature film debut in Halloweentown High.