Mandy Moore boards sci-fi YA adaptation The Darkest Minds

After starring in the successful first season of NBC’s family drama This Is Us, Mandy Moore is switching genres for an upcoming big screen project.

EW has confirmed the actress and pop star has joined the cast of Jennifer Yuh Nelson’s sci-fi thriller The Darkest Minds, adapted from Alexandra Bracken’s YA book series of the same name.

Moore, who earned a Golden Globe nod for her work on This Is Us, boards the film alongside the previously announced lead, Amandla Stenberg — best known for playing Rue in the first Hunger Games movie in 2012.

The narrative centers around a pandemic that has killed most of America’s young people; shortly thereafter, a band of superpowered teens — including 16-year-old telekinetic Ruby Daly (Stenberg) — are taken away from their families and placed in internment camps. Daly escapes from her camp and joins a group of fellow escapees as they avoid capture.

The Hollywood Reporter, which broke news of Moore’s casting, reports that she will play an altruistic doctor who crusades against the government’s persecution.

The film marks Nelson’s first time directing a live-action feature. She previously scored an Oscar nod for her work on the second Kung Fu Panda movie in 2012.

The Darkest Minds begins shooting in mid-March in Atlanta, Georgia.