Rhea Perlman will also co-star.
Variety reports that Helen Hunt, Rhea Perlman and Moon Bloodgood are set to join John Hawkes in the indie drama ‘The Surroogate.’ The drama is based on the true story of paraplegic polio victim Mark O’Brien.
Hawkes (‘Winter’s Bone’) will play O’Brien, “a paraplegic polio victim who lived most of his life in an iron lung, paralyzed from the neck down.” The movie finds the lonely O’Brien contacting a sex surrogate to take his virginity. Hunt will play the role of his surrogate, who goes through her own challenges as she struggles to separate her personal and professional lives, including explaining her career to her 12-year-old son. Bloodgood will play Vera, O’Brien’s daily caretaker.
Set primarily in the late 80s, the movie will “explore O’Brien’s manhood and depict his strong spirit through his relationships with nurses, caregivers, a hip priest, and of course, his surrogate.”
Ben Lewin (‘Lucky Break’), himself a polio survivor, is writing and directing with Stephen Nemeth (‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’) producing with Doug Blake.