Rose Byrne is set to join Oprah Winfrey in HBO’s “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” The film is based on Rebecca Skloot’s 2010 best-selling nonfiction book of the same name.
According to Deadline, the drama “tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line. Told through the eyes of her daughter, Deborah Lacks (Winfrey), the film chronicles her search to learn about the mother she never knew and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks’ cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever.”
Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Byrne will portray Skloot, the freelance science writer who formed a close connection with Deborah and spent more than a decade researching and writing the project that became “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.”
George C. Wolfe (“Lackawanna Blues”) will write the adaptation and direct. Exec producers include Winfrey and Carla Cardini via Harpo Films, and Lydia Dean Pilcher through Cine Mosaic Productions.
Byrne most recently appeared on-screen in “X-Men: Apocalypse,” where she reprised her role as Moira MacTaggert. Her other credits include “Neighbors” and its sequel, Lorene Scafaria’s “The Meddler,” and the Paul Feig comedies “Spy” and “Bridesmaids.” She starred alongside Glenn Close in FX’s legal thriller “Damages” for five seasons.
Winfrey has been doing a lot of acting lately. She has a recurring role in OWN’s “Greenleaf,” a drama that follows the Greenleafs, a powerful family at the center of a Memphis megachurch. The series premiered June 21 this year. She’ll play a role in “Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?” a comedy about the late comedian, co-starring Eddie Murphy and Kate Hudson, currently in pre-production. She’ll also appear in “Queen Sugar,” which she co-created with “Selma” director Ava DuVernay. The Louisiana-set family drama debuts on OWN September 6.
