EXCLUSIVE: Till‘s Jalyn Hall will play another important Black American historical figure after booking a guest-starring role playing the young Martin Luther King Jr in Genius: MLK/X, the upcoming fourth installment in the Disney+/National Geographic anthology series.
Kelvin Harrison Jr. (The Trial of the Chicago 7) plays the adult Martin Luther King Jr in the series, which will focus on the relationship between Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X (Aaron Pierre). Weruche Opia as Coretta Scott King, Jayme Lawson as Betty Shabazz and Ron Cephas Jones as Elijah Muhammad also star in the anthology, the first installment to stream as a Disney+ original. Channing Godfrey Peoples (Miss Juneteenth) directs the pilot episode and serves as co-executive producer.
Hall has been on Supporting Actor Oscar contenders lists and was just nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Young Actor for his performance in Chinonye Chukwu’s Till, in which he portrayed Emmett Till opposite Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till-Mobley. The pic from Orion Picutres/MGM Pictures/United Artists Releasing hit theaters in October.
He is also the lead in the upcoming film Bruiser, which recently premiered in the Discovery section of the Toronto Film Festival. The Miles Warren-directed drama, acquired by Disney’s Onyx Collective, also stars Trevante Rhodes and Shamier Anderson and is about fathers, families and the effects of toxic masculinity.
On TV, Hall has had a recurring role on the CW series All American since 2018, and recently wrapped production on the new Disney+ series The Crossover based on the bestselling Newbery Award-winning novel-in-verse by author, poet and educator Kwame Alexander.
Hall is repped by Pantheon, Luber Roklin Entertainment, J. Pervis Talent Agency, Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson McGinnis Ryan and The Initiative Group.
