Tony Winner Renee Elise Goldsberry Joins Oprah Winfrey in HBO's THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS

According to BlackFilm, Tony winner and Hamilton star Renee Elise Goldsberry will join previously announced Oprah Winfrey in HBO Films' THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, based on Rebecca Skloot's critically acclaimed, bestselling nonfiction book of the same name. DGA winner, Emmy® nominee and veteran Broadway director-producer George C. Wolfe (Broadway's SHUFFLE ALONG, HBO's "Lackawanna Blues"; Tony winner for "Angels in America") will direct from his screenplay.

Goldsberry's previous Broadway credits include GOOD PEOPLE, THE COLOR PURPLE, RENT and THE LION KING. She received the Lortel and Drama Desk Awards for her performance inThe Public Theater's Off-Broadway premiere of HAMILTON. Her television appearances include "The Good Wife," "The Following," "Law & Order: SVU," "Masters of Sex," "Younger" and "OLTL." Film appearances include roles in "Sisters," "Every Secret Thing," "All About You" and she played Mimi in "Rent: Live on Broadway."

THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line. Told through the eyes of her daughter, Deborah Lacks (Winfrey), the film chronicles her search to learn about the mother she never knew and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks' cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever. It's a story of medical arrogance and triumph, race, poverty and deep friendship between the unlikeliest of people.

Rebecca Skloot's "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," which took more than a decade to research and write, instantly hit the New York Times bestseller list upon publication, and remained there for more than four years.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos