Actress Kat Graham has been cast to portray Jada Pinkett Smith in the upcoming Tupac Shakur biopic.

The Vampire Diaries star will play the actress in All Eyez on Me, the film detailing the iconic rapper's humble beginnings, his meteoric rise to fame and his murder in 1996.

Pinkett Smith first met Tupac when they were teenagers attending Baltimore School for the Arts in Maryland, and they maintained a strong friendship through the years.

All Eyez On Me, which began filming last month (Dec15) after years of development delays, stars Demetrius Shipp, Jr. as Tupac, R&B star Keyshia Cole, Hill Harper and Danai Gurira.

This is the second time in less than a year that Graham has been cast to play a star in a biopic - she will portray Motown legend Tammi Terrell in an as-yet-untitled project, which will document the signer's rise to stardom, her memorable collaborations with the likes of James Brown and Marvin Gaye, and her death 1970, aged just 24.