The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (film)
2017 American television film
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a 2017 American drama television film directed by George C. Wolfe and starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne. It is based on the book of the same name by Rebecca Skloot and documents the story of Henrietta Lacks, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in the 1950s, and whose cancer cells (later known as HeLa) would change the course of cancer treatment.
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| The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | |
|---|---|
Film poster | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Based on | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot |
| Screenplay by | Peter Landesman Alexander Woo George C. Wolfe |
| Directed by | George C. Wolfe |
| Starring | Oprah Winfrey Rose Byrne Renée Elise Goldsberry Courtney B. Vance Reg E. Cathey Ruben Santiago-Hudson Leslie Uggams |
| Music by | Branford Marsalis |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Alan Ball Carla Gardini Peter Macdissi Lydia Dean Pilcher Oprah Winfrey |
| Producer | Kathryn Dean |
| Cinematography | Sofian El Fani |
| Editor | Aaron Yanes |
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Production companies | Your Face Goes Here Entertainment Harpo Films Cine Mosaic |
| Original release | |
| Network | HBO |
| Release | April 22, 2017 |
Background
In January 1951, Henrietta Lacks suffered complications while giving birth. A biopsy taken in February confirmed that she had cervical cancer. Lacks died in October, having never been told that cells from her tumor were being used for research; not sharing this information was common practice in the United States at the time.[2] Cell biologist George Otto Gey found that the cells could be kept alive,[3] and developed into what is – at the time of writing – the oldest immortalised cell line and one of the most commonly used in medical (not just cancer) research; previously, cells cultured from other human cells would survive for only a few days, but cells from Lacks' tumor behaved differently.[4][5]
Cast
- Oprah Winfrey as Deborah Lacks
- Rose Byrne as Rebecca Skloot
- Renée Elise Goldsberry as Henrietta Lacks
- Courtney B. Vance as Sir Lord Keenan Kester Cofield
- Reg E. Cathey as Zakariyya Lacks
- Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Dr. Roland Pattillo
- Leslie Uggams as Sadie
- Reed Birney as Dr. George Gey
- John Douglas Thompson as Lawrence Lacks
- Adriane Lenox as Barbra Lacks
- Roger Robinson as Day Lacks
- Rocky Carroll as Sonny Lacks
- Kyanna Simone Simpson as Teenage Deborah Lacks
- Tian Richards as Young Lawrence Lacks
Production
The film was announced on May 2, 2016, with Alan Ball and Oprah Winfrey as executive producers. George C. Wolfe would direct the film, with Winfrey taking the role of Lacks' daughter Deborah.[6] In July, Rose Byrne was cast as Rebecca Skloot, the author of the book about Henrietta, who befriends Deborah while reporting on her mother's life,[7] and Renée Elise Goldsberry was cast as the titular Henrietta Lacks.[8] The core supporting cast was rounded out in August 2016, with Courtney B. Vance, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Reg E. Cathey and Leslie Uggams amongst them.[9] After several weeks of shooting in Atlanta, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks began filming in Baltimore in September 2016.[10][11] Two of Henrietta Lacks's sons, Zakariyya and Sonny, were consultants on the film.[12]
Reception
Critical reception
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with Winfrey's performance gaining high praise. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 69%, based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10.[13] On Metacritic the film has a score of 64 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[14]
