Posted by | Ray Cornelius 

Congrats to Oprah Winfrey and Renée Elise Goldsberry! Both actresses look simply divine on the April cover of ESSENCE. The two divas are promoting their new HBO film, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” which debuts on April 22.

Goldsberry plays Lacks, an African-American woman who died of cervical cancer in 1951 and pieces of the tumor that killed her were removed and used for medical exploration and to build a billion-dollar research industry.

“I love the opportunity to tell stories that people should know,” Goldsberry tells 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.”

The film is based on Rebecca Skloot‘s nonfiction book of the same name and features Winfrey as Lacks’ daughter, who uncovered the truth about her mother. It also stars Rose Byrne, Courtney B. Vance, Leslie Uggams, Rocky Carroll and Reg E. Cathey.

Check out the video below where the actresses go in-depth about their characters and more:

The ESSENCE April issue hits newsstands this Friday, March 24!

Photo Credits: ESSENCE.com

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