Adam Pearson, the actor who appeared in Underneath the Pores and skin and the Oscar-nominated A Completely different Man, is to play the lead position in a brand new adaptation of The Elephant Man.
In line with Selection, Pearson will play Joseph Merrick, whose bodily disfigurement led to him changing into a freak present exhibit after which a notable determine in late Victorian London, in a movie primarily based on the celebrated play by Bernard Pomerance that grew to become a success in London and New York after premiering in 1977. Pomerance’s son Moby is writing the screenplay, and taking pictures is because of start in 2026.
Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis and would be the first disabled actor to play the position on movie, mentioned in an announcement: “Joseph Merrick is a person I’ve an extended and sophisticated relationship with. From having his identify used as a time period of derision to studying about him in documentaries I’ve introduced, it’s been a cathartic journey of rising to like and respect a person who as a baby I prevented even eager about. Now as a incapacity advocate and actor, I can consider no higher honour (but heavy accountability) than to inform the true story of Joseph Carey Merrick.”
Merrick was born in Leicester in 1862 and after changing into an exhibit in a “penny gaff” in London, got here below the care of pioneering surgeon Frederick Treves, who gave Merrick lodging on the London hospital, the place he died in 1890. The precise nature of his situation is just not identified, with strategies he could have had neurofibromatosis or Proteus syndrome, or each.
Pomerance’s play was first carried out within the UK in 1977, with David Schofield within the lead position; subsequent productions featured actors together with Philip Anglim, David Bowie and Bradley Cooper as Merrick. The celebrated movie of the identical title, starring John Damage and directed by David Lynch, was not tailored from the play.
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