Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo and Alec Baldwin Cast in Film Adaptation of ‘The Normal Heart’
Author: William Johnson
January 21, 2012
Film and television screenwriter, director, and producer Ryan Murphy’s film adaptation of Larry Kramer’s play The Normal Heart is moving forward with an all star cast. THR reports that Murphy has locked in Julia Roberts, Alec Baldwin, Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons, and Mark Ruffalo to star in the film adaptation of Kramer’s autobiographical drama.
Murphy, the producer of the hit TV shows Glee and American Horror Story, is directing from a screenplay by Kramer.
The play, originally staged at the Public Theater in 1985, chronicles the rise of HIV/AIDS in New York’s gay community in the 1980s. The play was successfully revived on Broadway last year and starred Joe Mantello, Ellen Barkin, John Benjamin Hickey, Lee Pace as Bruce Niles, and Jim Parsons.
For the film adaptation, Mark Ruffalo is being cast as the Larry Kramer surrogate Ned Weeks. Julia Roberts will play wheelchair-bound Dr. Emma Brookner, the role that won Ellen Barkin a Tony last year. Alec Baldwin is being cast as Ned’s straight brother, Matthew Bomer as Ned’s boyfriend Felix, and Jim Parsons, who’ll reprise his role from the revival as an activist.
If you missed the well received 2011 Broadway production, the folks at Playbill have compiled a great highlight reel of the revival.
