Zackary Momoh discusses his impactful role as Harriet Tubman's husband in “Harriet”

Riker Brothers PhotographyZackary Momoh stars as John Tubman, the husband of abolitionist and activist Harriet Tubman, in the new film Harriet.

Momoh tells ABC Audio that although he was excited to take on this important and historical role, he really didn’t know much about John or his impact.

“I didn’t know anything about John Tubman,” Momoh reveals. “All I knew is that [Harriet] took his last name.”

“But, being her first husband, we were able to work with the researchers and historians that worked with movie and able to find out more about him,” he continues. “So, he worked as a lumber man. He hauled wood, chopped it up, did what he could. He was also a freed slave.”

In the film, viewers will see Harriet, played by Cynthia Erivo, escape from her own plantation in Maryland to the free city of Philadelphia. Even though she had the opportunity to start a new life and never return to the harsh reality of slavery, Momoh says Harriet eventually decides to come back for one specific reason.

“From what we were able to deduce, they were madly in love with each other,” he says of Harriet and John. “When she ran away to freedom, she came back for one person and one person only. And that was her husband John. And, when you watch the movie, people will be able to see how that came about.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)

Harriet, also starring Janelle Monae, Leslie Odom Jr. and Vanessa Bell Calloway, is now in theaters.