Los Angeles, Nov 14 (IANS): Actress Zendaya will produce and star in the thriller "A White Lie", in which she will essay the role of the first African-American woman to graduate from Vassar College.

The project is based on Karin Tanabe's book "The Gilded Years", which tells the true story of Anita Hemmings, a light-skinned African-American woman who was the descendant of slaves and passed as white so she could attend Vassar during the 1890s, reports variety.com.

Hemmings is pulled into her elite world where she is treated as a wealthy, educated white woman who finds romance with a Harvard student.

Monica Beletsky will write the script and Zendaya will produce the film alongside Reese Witherspoon and her Hello Sunshine partner Lauren Neustadter.

Zendaya, whose full name is Zendaya Coleman, recently starred as the female lead opposite Tom Holland in "Spider-Man: Homecoming". She will next be seen opposite Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron in "The Greatest Showman" as trapeze artist Anne Wheeler.

She launched her acting career in 2010 through "Shake It Up" and followed that up with "Zapped" before scoring her own series "K.C. Undercover". The series was renewed for a third season last year, which Zendaya also produced.