Oprah Winfrey is heading to HBO. The Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated actress and powerhouse media personality has signed on to star in HBO Film’s “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.”
Based on Rebecca Skloot’s thoroughly researched book of the same name, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line. As HBO’s description continues, “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. It’s a story of medical arrogance and triumph, race, poverty and deep friendship between the unlikeliest of people.”
After ending her long-running talk show in 2011, Winfrey has since turned back to her acting roots, which she nourished by starring in 1985’s “The Color Purple” and 1998’s “Beloved,” an adaptation of Toni Morrison’s novel. Notable recent roles came in Ava DuVernay’s “Selma” and “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe.
Winfrey will executive produce along with Carla Gardini (“The Hundred-Foot Journey”) and Lydia Dean Pilcher (the upcoming Queen of Katwe) as well as Alan Ball. Skloot will also co-executive produce. George C. Wolfe will direct from his script, with filming set to begin this summer.
