Young actor Kelvin Harrison Jr is about to take centre stage in a high-profile indie drama alongside Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson.

The 22 year old American will lead an ensemble piece, which also features A$AP Rocky and Nas, playing a teen student and aspiring filmmaker in Harlem who is being charged with murder for a crime he claims he didn't commit. His casting in the project - which goes before the cameras in Manhattan this autumn - comes on the back of a busy couple of years for the talented actor (who also plays jazz/gospel music on both the piano and trumpet) whose most recent projects have included 12 Years a Slave, The Birth of a Nation and miniseries Roots.