Hamilton fans were no doubt a little emotional on Friday as Daveed Diggs (Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette) departed the juggernaut musical. It’s a bummer for everyone who never got to see Diggs play his role (or Leslie Odom Jr., or Phillipa Soo, or, of course, Lin-Manuel Miranda). But silver-lining alert: It’s going to be much easier to score tickets to Diggs’s next project. Diggs, who won a Tony for his turn in Hamilton, is heading to the big screen, with a role in the film adaptation of best-selling children’s novel Wonder.
Wonder tells the story of Auggie Pullman (played by Room’s Jacob Tremblay), a boy born with a facial deformity who is homeschooled up until fifth grade, when he enters a traditional school environment and must overcome the challenges this presents. The Perks of Being a Wallflower’s Stephen Chbosky is directing, Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson are set to play Auggie’s parents, and now Daveed Diggs has signed on to play English teacher Mr. Browne. It was recently announced that Diggs will also join Andy Samberg in his upcoming HBO sports mockumentary Tour de Pharmacy as cyclist Young Slim Klingston, and will have an arc on the next season of ABC’s Black-ish.
Meanwhile, fellow departing cast member Renée Elise Goldsberry can next be seen on upcoming Netflix sci-fi series Altered Carbon, alongside The Killing’s Joel Kinnaman. She’ll be officially leaving the production in the fall. Hamilton alumni, doing your show proud!
