Oprah Winfrey To Star In HBO’s ‘The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks’

Oprah Winfrey is expanding her participation in HBO’s “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” to an on-screen role.

The cable channel said Monday that Winfrey will star in the TV movie that she’s been shepherding as an executive producer.

The film is based on Rebecca Skloot’s nonfiction book of the same name. It details the story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose cancerous cells became the source of medical breakthroughs.

Oprah-Winfrey-attends-the-87th-Annual-Academy-Awards-Nominee-Luncheon-at-The-Beverly-Hilton-Hotel-on-February-2-2015-in-Beverly-Hills
(Getty Images)

The story will be told from the perspective of Lacks’ daughter, Deborah, to be played by Winfrey.

Veteran Broadway director-producer George C. Wolfe will direct the HBO project from his screenplay.

WATCH: Oprah Winfrey Surprises Fans At Her First Weight Watchers Meeting

Filming is scheduled to begin this summer, with an air date yet to be announced.

Copyright © 2024 by Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

This material may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read More

‘90 Day Fiancé: Love In Paradise’ Returning With Dramatic & Wild New Season