A Different Man star Adam Pearson will be the first disabled actor to portray Joseph Merrick in a new The Elephant Man movie.
A new film adaptation of Bernard Pomerance’s play The Elephant Man is in the works, Variety reports. British actor Adam Pearson, last seen in A Different Man with Sebastian Stan, is set to play Joseph Merrick in the movie, which is heading into production in 2026 and will be written by Pomerance’s son, Moby.
Merrick was a real person living in Victorian London who had severe physical deformities. The play took its title from the name Merrick was given at the freak show he performed in.
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David Lynch’s 1980 film The Elephant Man was also based loosely on the real Merrick’s life. In one of the film’s key scenes, Merrick, played by John Hurt in heavy prosthetics, yells “I am not an elephant! I am not an animal! I am a human being! I… am… a … man!” Since then, the character has been played by actors such as Mark Hamill, Bradley Cooper and David Bowie on stage over the years.
Pearson will be the first disabled actor to portray the character. “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 I as a child I avoided even thinking about. Now as a disability advocate and actor, I can think of no greater honour (yet heavy responsibility) than to tell the true story of Joseph Carey Merrick,” the actor said in a statement.
“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 I as a child I avoided even thinking about. Now as a disability advocate and actor, I can think of no greater honour (yet heavy responsibility) than to tell the true story of Joseph Carey Merrick,” Eve Pomerance, Bernard’s daughter, commented on the project.
No director seems to have signed on for The Elephant Man quite just yet, but we’ll let you know when there’s an update on that.
