©Courtesy of A24, “A Different Man”
Actor Adam Pearson has been cast in the lead role of Joseph Merrick in the upcoming on-screen adaptation of The Elephant Man, Variety is reporting. The feature marks Pearson’s first movie after appearing in the critically acclaimed 2024 psychological dark comedy, A Different Man, for which his co-star, Sebastian Stan, won a Golden Globe.
The project is a new feature film adaptation of Bernard Pomerance’s Tony-winning play of the same name. The play is based on the diaries of Merrick’s physician, Dr. Frederick Treves, and chronicles the years he spent at the London Hospital. Pomerance’s son, Moby Pomerance, will adapt the play into the script for the movie.
The play garnered initial success after it first ran on the West End in London in 1977. It gained further success when it moved Off-Broadway.
Around that time, David Lynch helmed a film based on Merrick’s life, which was also titled The Elephant Man, in which John Hurt played the titular role. However, the 1980 Oscar-winning movie has no direct relation to the play. Producers of the original play sued the movie’s producer, Brooksfilms, at the time, over the feature’s use of the same title.
With the upcoming film, Pearson will become the first disabled actor to play Joseph Merrick, an English man known for his physical deformities, on screen. In a statement, the performer said, “Joseph Merrick is a man I have a long and complex relationship with. From having his name used as a term of derision to learning about the man himself in documentaries I’ve presented. It’s been a cathartic journey of growing to love and respect a man who as a child I avoided even thinking about. Now as a disability advocate and actor, I can think of no greater honor (yet heavy responsibility) than to tell the true story of Joseph Carey Merrick.”
Other actors who have played Merrick in the play, including on Broadway and in the West End, are Bradley Cooper, David Bowie, Billy Crudup, Mark Hamill and Philip Anglum. The role was originated by David Schofield in London in 1977.
Pomerance’s daughter, Eve Pomerance, said, “My father never wanted prosthetics to be used on stage as he felt it took the audience out of the story. He wanted them to empathise fully with Merrick, to see themselves in him. Lines like, ‘I am not an animal, I am a man,’ which have become synonymous with the play, will take on greater meaning with Adam telling this story and enable the audience to finally stand in Merrick’s shoes. My father would be beyond excited to see his dream becoming a reality.”
The upcoming film adaptation of The Elephant Man will be produced by Stephen Nemeth for Rhino Films and Eve Pomerance for Major Motion Pictures. Filming is scheduled to begin in spring 2026.
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