Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer Will Star in HBO Films' "The Normal Heart"

By Andrew Gans
04 Jan 2013

Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts
Photo by Jeffrey R. Staab/CBS

Academy Award winner Julia Roberts and Academy Award nominee Mark Ruffalo will star in Larry Kramer's "The Normal Heart" for HBO Films.

Directed by Emmy winner Ryan Murphy (“Eat Pray Love,” “Glee”), the film is scheduled to begin production in New York City later this year for a 2014 debut on HBO. Kramer has adapted his play for the upcoming film.

“We are so proud to be involved with this monumental project,” said Michael Lombardo, president of HBO Programming, in a statement. “Ryan has assembled an extraordinary cast to bring Larry Kramer’s landmark theatrical achievement to the screen for the first time, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to bring this important film to HBO.”

Roberts plays Dr. Emma Brookner with Ruffalo as Ned Weeks and Matt Bomer as Felix Turner.

Executive produced by Murphy, Jason Blum, Dede Gardner and Dante Di Loreto, "The Normal Heart," according to press notes, "tells the story of the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s, taking an unflinching look at the nation’s sexual politics as gay activists and their allies in the medical community fought to expose the truth about the burgeoning epidemic to a city in denial."

Kramer’s play debuted at New York’s Public Theater in 1985. The 2011 Broadway revival garnered five Tony nominations, winning for Best Revival, Best Featured Actor and Best Featured Actress.