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John Legend Cast as Harry Belafonte in New Film
John Legend has been cast as the late singer and civil-rights activist Harry Belafonte in The Road Home, a Bill Condon film now in production. The film centres on South African jazz pioneer Hugh Masekela and singer Miriam Makeba during a tour of South Africa with Paul Simon under apartheid, placing Belafonte’s role within a wider story of music and political resistance.
Legend said Belafonte had been his friend, mentor and collaborator in campaigns for justice, and described playing him as a privilege. Thabo Rametsi will portray Masekela, Cynthia Erivo will play Makeba, and Guy Pearce will appear as anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, who boycotted Simon’s Graceland tour; Legend previously won an Oscar for “Glory” from Selma.
In short
- John Legend will portray Harry Belafonte in The Road Home.
- The film explores musicians’ work during apartheid-era South Africa.
- Cynthia Erivo, Guy Pearce and Thabo Rametsi also star.
Explained simply
Harry Belafonte was an American singer and civil-rights activist who rose to international prominence through his calypso music in the 1950s. Beyond his career as an entertainer, he was a dedicated campaigner for social justice and became deeply involved in efforts to oppose apartheid in South Africa.
The Road Home is a new film that tells the story of South African jazz musician Hugh Masekela and singer Miriam Makeba during a tour of South Africa with American musician Paul Simon. The film is set during the apartheid era and explores how musicians engaged with the broader political struggle against racial oppression in the country.
The film is directed by Bill Condon and features an ensemble of well-known actors in its main roles. The project represents an effort to examine the intersection between music and political activism in twentieth-century history.
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