Common Lands TV Role

Common is making the transition from movie theatres to the small screen - he's landed his first leading role in a new TV series.

The Go! hitmaker, real name Lonnie Lynn, Jr., recently starred as Queen Latifah's leading man in romantic comedy Just Wright, the first film which saw him take top billing alongside his fellow hip-hop star-turned-actress.

But Common is now set to go back in time to play Elam, a freed slave, in contemporary western Hell on Wheels on the AMC network, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The pilot will be shot later this year.