HBO announced on Monday that Oprah Winfrey will be taking the lead role in the upcoming film “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” Although her role as the leading actress is new, Winfrey has invested ample amounts of time into the project leading up to this moment. According to People, in 2010, Winfrey signed on as the executive producer when the rights to produce a film adaption of Rebecca Skloot’s bestselling book with the same name was acquired.
Along with Winfrey, Skloot and Alan Bell, creator of “True Blood,” will also be producing the film as well. Also to ensure the accuracy of Henrietta Lacks’ story, Lacks’ sons Zakariyya Rahman and David Lacks and her granddaughter Jeri Lacksare, will be acting as consultants on the project that is said to begin production this summer.
The movie itself will follow the Deborah Lacks, Winfrey’s character and Henrietta’s daughter, as she uncovers how her mother’s cancerous cells were harvested without her permission and ultimately led to the creation of the first immortal human cell named “HeLa” in 1951.
At this time, no premiere date has been set but just knowing this 6-year project is finally coming to fruition is enough excitement to hold us over for now! Have you ever read Henrietta Lacks’ story? Are you excited to see her story come to life on film?
