John Legend to Play Harry Belafonte in Paul Simon ‘Graceland’ Biopic

The multitalented John Legend will play the multitalented Harry Belafonte in an upcoming film dramatizing Paul Simon‘s Graceland tour of South Africa during Apartheid with Hugh Masekela and Miriam “Mama Africa” Makeba. Filmmaker Bill Condon will direct the picture, titled The Road Home, according to Variety. Shooting is underway.

“I was honored to know Mr. Belafonte as my friend, mentor, and collaborator in the struggle for justice,” Legend said in a statement. “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.”

Belafonte advised Simon during the making of 1986’s Graceland, given the expected controversy of working with South African musicians during Apartheid and many artists’ related cultural boycott of the country. Simon had recently participated in the “We Are the World” charity single, and Belafonte and producer Quincy Jones encouraged him to go there with the approval of the African National Congress. Makeba and trumpeter Masekela accompanied Simon on the Graceland tour despite the controversy.

In the film, Johnny Flynn will play Simon, while Thabo Rametsi will portray Masekela and Cynthia Erivo is set to play Makeba. Guy Pearce will portray Archbishop Trevor Huddleston who led a subsequent boycott against Simon. Michael Bronner, who wrote The Mauritanian and United 93 wrote an original script, based on a story he wrote with South African writer Zakes Mda, for the picture at the request of the Hugh Masekela Foundation.

Belafonte died in 2023 at age 96. After his death, Dr. Irwin Redlener, who worked with Belafonte on activist causes, remembered his commitment to social causes in a tribute for Rolling Stone. “In 1987, Paul Simon, [my wife] Karen, and I started an organization called Children’s Health Fund, where we developed healthcare programs for homeless and indigent children around the country,” Dr. Redlener said.” Harry was very interested in the Children’s Health Fund and actually came to a gala in 2016 where we honored David Dinkins, Morgan Freeman, and him. It was an extraordinary evening, and Harry spoke with extraordinary eloquence on the continued powerful, overwhelming presence of poverty and racism in America.”