Oprah Winfrey, Angela Bassett, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter, Phylicia Rashad, are among the cast for HBO's adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me, Variety reports.
The special will be directed by Kamilah Forbes, who was also the executive producer of the production when it was originally adapted for the Apollo Theater in 2018. It will be executive produced by Coates, Susan Kelechi Watson, and Roger Ross Williams.
Between the World and Me is a book framed as a series of letters that Coates is leaving to his son that chronicles his life growing up in the United States, going to the historically Black Howard University, and how the challenges and lessons he's faced from the world made him into the man he is today. The story is candid, rugged at times, but what makes it brilliant is that while it tells the story of Coates' life, it also lays out the Black experience in a very real way. Between the World and Me is more of a cautionary tale than anything else, messages that Coates is leaving almost in a time capsule, hoping that his son doesn't have to go through the things he did.
The HBO adaptation will include real documentary footage from moments in Coates' life, archival footage, animation, and readings from the book itself. Due to It's currently set to debut this fall on HBO, and will also be available to stream on HBO Max. Black Lives Matter founder Alicia Garza, Joe Morton, Courtney B. Vance, Pauletta Washington, and Susan Kelechi Watson will also star.
