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Marvel Cinematic Universe icon Mark Ruffalo is set to star alongside Doctor Who actress Ruth Madeley in a new movie for Apple Original Films. Siân Heder, the director of Oscar winner CODA, is also attached to the film titled Being Heumann.
According to Deadline, the movie tells the story of Judy Heumann, a disability rights activist who led a 28-day sit-in at the San Francisco Federal Building in 1977. She and her fellow protesters demanded that the government make all federal buildings accessible to disabled people — a fight that was a long time coming and hard-won. The film is named after and based on Heumann’s memoir, published in 2010.
Ruffalo will play Joseph Califano, who was the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare at the time. He held back on signing critical legislation for people with disabilities, and was only persuaded to do so by the actions of Heumann and her fellow disability advocates during their sit-in. Ruffalo is best known for playing Bruce Banner/The Hulk in the MCU — a role he’s rumored to reprise in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Heumann, who passed away in 2023, contracted polio at a young age and used a wheelchair for mobility. She then became the first teacher in a wheelchair in New York after suing the state Board of Education for discrimination, when they claimed she would not be able to get her students out of the building in case of a fire. Though Madeley — who plays UNIT operative Shirley Anne Bingham in Doctor Who — was born in England while Heumann was born in Philadelphia, the two women have a lot in common. Madeley was also given a wheelchair at a young age, and like Heumann, she’s very outspoken about disability rights.
«[Shirley] being in a wheelchair is the least interesting thing about her — and that’s what you want,» she told Digital Spy, pointing to a scene in which her character famously said «Don’t make me the problem» after being faced with a set of stairs. «It was so important to show that the problem isn’t us, it’s actually all the stuff around us. I’m having ‘Don’t make me the problem’ put on T-shirts.»
Mark Ruffalo Has Starred in Many Movies Based on True Stories
While known and loved as Bruce Banner, Mark Ruffalo has appeared in several other movies based on true stories. One of his earlier roles was as Private Pappas in the 2002 war movie Windtalkers, and he delivered a critically acclaimed performance as Inspector Dave Toschi in 2007’s Zodiac, about the hunt for the Zodiac Killer. Ruffalo also portrayed decorated wrestler Dave Schultz in 2014’s sports drama Foxcatcher opposite Channing Tatum and Steve Carell.
More recently, he starred as attorney Robert Bilott in the 2014 legal drama Dark Waters. The movie told the story of Bilott’s litigation against chemical company DuPont for contaminating the town of Parkersburg, West Virginia. Ruffalo also served as a producer on the film, which has an 89% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. He was nominated for a Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama.
Being Heumann has no release date yet.
