Film Music Reporter

Branford Marsalis has recently composed the original score for the new HBO original movie The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The film is directed by George C. Wolfe (Nights in Rodanthe, Lackawanna Blues) and stars Oprah Winfrey, Rose Byrne, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Rocky Carroll, Courtney B. Vance, Reg E. Cathey, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Leslie Uggams. The movie is based on the book by Rebecca Skloot and tells the story of an African-American woman who becomes an unwitting pioneer for medical breakthroughs when her cells are used to create the first immortal human cell line in the early 1950s. Wolfe also co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Landesman (Concussion, Kill the Messenger) and Alexander Woo (True Blood). Winfrey is executive producing the project with Alan Ball (American Beauty, Six Feet Under), Peter Macdissi (Banshee), Carla Gardini and Lydia Dean Pilcher (The Darjeeling Limited, The Namesake). Marsalis is best known for his work as a saxophonist and has performed on such scores as Sneakers by James Horner, The Russia House by Jerry Goldsmith and Malcolm X by Terence Blanchard. He has previously scored such films as 3 A.M. starring Danny Glover, Laurence Fishburne’s directorial effort Once in the Life and the 1996 Showtime movie Mr. and Mrs. Loving. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is set to premiere this Saturday, April 22, on HBO. Visit the official movie website for more information.