Adam Pearson, the actor who appeared in Under the Skin and the Oscar-nominated A Different Man, is to play the lead role in a new adaptation of The Elephant Man.
According to Variety, Pearson will play Joseph Merrick, whose physical disfigurement led to him becoming a freak show exhibit and then a notable figure in late Victorian London, in a film based on the celebrated play by Bernard Pomerance that became a hit in London and New York after premiering in 1977. Pomerance’s son Moby is writing the screenplay, and shooting is due to begin in 2026.
Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis and will be the first disabled actor to play the role on film, 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 him 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 honour (yet heavy responsibility) than to tell the true story of Joseph Carey Merrick.”
Merrick was born in Leicester in 1862 and after becoming an exhibit in a “penny gaff” in London, came under the care of pioneering surgeon Frederick Treves, who gave Merrick accommodation at the London hospital, where he died in 1890. The exact nature of his condition is not known, with suggestions he may have had neurofibromatosis or Proteus syndrome, or both.
Pomerance’s play was first performed in the UK in 1977, with David Schofield in the lead role; subsequent productions featured actors including Philip Anglim, David Bowie and Bradley Cooper as Merrick. The celebrated film of the same title, starring John Hurt and directed by David Lynch, was not adapted from the play.