John Legend is joining the cast of The Road Home, Bill Condon’s apartheid-era drama currently filming in South Africa. The EGOT-winning musician will play Harry Belafonte, the legendary entertainer, singer and civil rights activist who was central to the real-life events at the heart of the film.
Set in the late 1980s, The Road Home dramatizes one of pop history’s most charged moral controversies. When Paul Simon, played by Johnny Flynn, travels to apartheid South Africa to record with township musicians, he produces the beloved Graceland album but ignites a fierce backlash as the Anti-Apartheid Movement, led by Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, played by Guy Pearce, accuses him of violating the United Nations’ Cultural Boycott. The story unfolds through the perspective of exiled South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, who is forced to choose between his mentor Huddleston and his own conviction that music itself can serve the struggle. Masekela ultimately breaks with the movement and joins forces with fellow exile and powerhouse vocalist Miriam “Mama Africa” Makeba to form the Graceland band, a supergroup designed to bring South Africa’s voice to the world.
Belafonte’s connection to the story runs deep. He helped fund a young Masekela’s music studies in exile, launched Makeba’s international career and shared a Grammy with her for their 1966 collaboration. When Simon sought counsel before traveling to South Africa, it was Belafonte who famously urged him to first seek the anti-apartheid movement’s blessing, advice Simon did not take.
“I was honored to know Mr. Belafonte as my friend, mentor and collaborator in the struggle for justice,” Legend said. “He was an incredible human being who lived a monumental, revolutionary life. He was the epitome of an artist and activist who set a standard for me and so many others who stand on his shoulders. I count it a privilege to be entrusted with the role of Harry Belafonte in this special film.”
The film has full access to the music at its center. Veteran producer Hilton Rosenthal, who was instrumental in the making of the original Graceland album, secured rights to Simon’s catalog and the catalogs of Masekela and Makeba and will produce new recordings for the soundtrack.
Directed by Bill Condon from a script by Michael Bronner, based on a story by Bronner and South African novelist Zakes Mda, The Road Home is produced by Laura Bickford, Bronner, Greg Yolen and Anant Singh, in association with Blue Ice’s Tebogo Malia and Adam Friedlander. Studiocanal is financing with Flora Films and will distribute across nine territories including the U.K., France, Germany and Australia. Palisades Park Pictures is handling international sales.