Next month, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" will debut on HBO, and the movie's stars, Oprah and Renée Elise Goldsberry, will also make their debut on the cover of Essence magazine's April issue.
In the television drama, Goldsberry portrays Henrietta, the African American woman whose cells from a cervical cancer diagnosis were taken without her knowledge and used in research that forever changed the course of cancer treatment. Lacks own family wasn't made aware of the existence of Henrietta's cell lines until 1975, with many others not learning of this story until Rebecca Skloot's 2010 book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It's for that reason, Goldsberry said her role as an actress in this film is so important.
Oprah produced the film which was written and directed by George C. Wolfe and also portrays Henrietta's daughter Deborah. Check out behind-the-scenes video of the on-screen mother-daughter duo below as well as shots from their photoshoot for the mag on the next few pages. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" airs April 22."I love the opportunity to tell stories that people should know," Goldsberry told Essence."I think it puts what we do as actors on the level of nurses and doctors. It takes us out of this idea of entertainment into an act of service."
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