"The Sessions" screened at the Toronto filmfest Sunday and received a rousing reception. A hit at Sundance, this Fox Searchlight comedy drama showcases one-time Oscar nominee John Hawkes ("Winter's Bone," 2010) as real-life poet Mark O'Brien, confined to life in an iron lung after contracting polio. Director Ben Lewin, who also had polio, came across O'Brien's wry recount of hiring sex surrogate Cheryl Cohen Greene. He decided to adapt it for a film and cast 1998 Best Actress winner Helen Hunt ("As Good As It Gets") as Greene. It is a meaty role and, as Pete Hammond (Deadline) reports, "The studio is still trying to determine whether to push Hunt for lead or supporting." And William H. Macy ("Fargo," 1996) could reap his second supporting actor nod for his role as a sympathetic priest who counsels O'Brien. The scenes between the two...
- 9/10/2012
- Gold Derby
The title The Surrogate, to me, immediately calls up impressions of a horror film or thriller, but the movie that has had John Hawkes attached is something else entirely. An emotional thriller, perhaps. The Surrogate is based on a true story and will feature the actor as "Mark O'Brien, a paraplegic polio victim who lived most of his life in an iron lung, paralyzed from the neck down." But that's only the setup; there's quite a bit more to the story than that -- it addresses a longing to experience one specific aspect of humanity that such a life would be removed from. He's now joined by Helen Hunt, playing the role alluded to in the film's title, and Moon Bloodgood and Rhea Perlman are on board, too. Variety [1] broke the news of the new cast members, and describes the film: Set primarily in the late 80s, story finds the...
- 4/28/2011
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
Helen Hunt is keeping herself close to the inspirational stories. We're only leaping to that assumption because she's signed up to be part of the cast for the upcoming film "The Surrogate." The picture will be written and directed by Ben Lewin, best known for his work in television. Producing the film is Doug Blake and Stephen Nemeth.Helen Hunt isn't the only big-name actor in the cast. "Winter's Bone" actor John Hawkes is part of the cast, playing Mark O'Brien, a paraplegic polio victim who lived most of his life in an iron lung, paralyzed from the neck down. Hunt will be playing the main character who is struggling to separate her personal life from her professional one. Along with those two, Moon Bloodgood and Rhea Perlman will be part of the cast.The eighties-set film will explore O'Brien's manhood and depict his strong spirit through his relationships with nurses,...
- 4/28/2011
- LRMonline.com
Variety reports that Helen Hunt ( Soul Surfer ), Rhea Perlman and Moon Bloodgood ( Terminator Salvation ) have joined the independent drama The Surrogate (not to be confused with the possible Paul Verhoeven film ). John Hawkes ( Winter's Bone ) will play Mark O'Brien, "a [quadriplegic] polio victim who lived most of his life in an iron lung, paralyzed from the neck down." The real O'Brien is expected to appear early in the film using stock footage. The trade adds that the film, set in the late '80s, "finds the lonely O'Brien contacting a sex surrogate to take his virginity. Period pic 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." Hunt...
- 4/28/2011
- Comingsoon.net
Filed under: Movie News
Helen Hunt is on a streak: She's gotten good notices in the recent independent melodrama 'Soul Surfer' and is now set to star in another indie drama based on an inspirational true story, 'The Surrogate,' according to Variety. The story centers on Mark O'Brien (played by John Hawkes), a paraplegic polio victim who lived most of his life in an iron lung, paralyzed from the neck down, who, as the film unfolds, contacts a sex surrogate to take his virginity. Hunt plays the surrogate. There's more to the film then sex, of course: The 1980s period piece, according to Variety, "explores O'Brien's manhood and depicts his strong spirit through his relationships with nurses, caregivers, a hip priest, and of course, his surrogate." Rhea Perlman is also set to take a role in the film. O'Brien went on to graduate U.C. Calif., Berkeley,...
Helen Hunt is on a streak: She's gotten good notices in the recent independent melodrama 'Soul Surfer' and is now set to star in another indie drama based on an inspirational true story, 'The Surrogate,' according to Variety. The story centers on Mark O'Brien (played by John Hawkes), a paraplegic polio victim who lived most of his life in an iron lung, paralyzed from the neck down, who, as the film unfolds, contacts a sex surrogate to take his virginity. Hunt plays the surrogate. There's more to the film then sex, of course: The 1980s period piece, according to Variety, "explores O'Brien's manhood and depicts his strong spirit through his relationships with nurses, caregivers, a hip priest, and of course, his surrogate." Rhea Perlman is also set to take a role in the film. O'Brien went on to graduate U.C. Calif., Berkeley,...
- 4/28/2011
- by Harley W. Lond
- Moviefone
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