Mark Ruffalo is set to star opposite Ruth Madeley in the Apple Original Films pic Being Heumann‘ with CODA director Siân Heder directing. The film is an adaptation of Judy Heumann’s bestselling memoir.
The script will be written by Heder and Rebekah Taussig. David Permut (Hacksaw Ridge, Face/Off) will produce alongside Kevin Walsh (Napoleon, Manchester by the Sea), whose The Walsh Company is under an overall deal with Apple. Heumann’s managers John W. Beach and Kevin Cleary of Gravity Squared Entertainment will also serve as producers, with Heumann, Being Heumann co-author Kristen Joiner, and Diana Pokorny exec producing.
Being Heumann follows Heumann as she leads over a hundred disabled people to take over the San Francisco Federal Building, kicking off a 28 day sit-in in 1977. The protestors quickly form a tightly bound community, refusing to leave until the government enforces section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which required all federal spaces to become accessible. Ruffalo will play Joseph Califano
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Heumann used a wheelchair for most of her life after contracting polio at 18 months old. She encountered discrimination early, including being denied the right to attend public school because she was considered a “fire hazard,” and was galvanized by these experiences to get involved with the fight for disability rights. In 1970, Heumann successfully sued the New York Board of Education after being denied a teaching license solely because of her disability, thereby becoming the first wheelchair user to teach in NYC public schools. Other highlights of her career include co-founding civil rights organization Disabled in Action, helping to develop and secure the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and leadership roles under both the Clinton and Obama administrations.
Ruffalo can be seen next in the highly-anticipated HBO series TASK, which bows later this year. He also has the Amazon MGM Studios thriller Crime 101.
He is repped by UTA and Lighthought Management & Media.
