Oprah Winfrey stars in HBO film on true story
IN 1951, a vibrant African-American woman was dying of cervical cancer at age 31. Under the bright lights of an operating room, surgeons harvested cells from her tumor that would prove to be astonishingly immortal and would change the face of medicine forever. Yet she, and any recognition of her involuntary donation, would long remain unknown. HBO Original Film The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks premieres on April 23 at 8 a.m. on HBO with a same day primetime encore at 10:50 p.m. It will also be available on HBO On Demand and HBO GO. The story is told through the eyes of Henrietta’s daughter, Deborah Lacks (Oprah Winfrey) who is aided by journalist, Rebecca Skloot (Rose Byrne). Deborah sets out to learn about the mother she never knew and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Henrietta’s ( Renée Elise Goldsberry) cancerous cells led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, creating a medical revolution that changed countless lives. It’s a true story of medical arrogance and triumph, race, poverty and deep friendship between the unlikeliest of people. The cast includes Renée Elise Goldsberry, Reg E. Cathey, Rocky Carroll, Courtney B. Vance, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and Leslie Uggams. Directed by George C. Wolfe from a screenplay by Peter Landesman and Alexander Woo and Wolfe, the film is based on the book by science journalist Rebecca Skloot. Skloot spent 10 years researching the story behind the HeLa cells, trying to bring Lacks’s story to light. Her 2010 New York Times best- seller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, not only explains the scientific background of Lacks’s story, but follows her efforts to win the trust of the Lacks family and join Henrietta’s daughter, Deborah, as they set out to discover the woman whose silent contribution changed the world.