Emma Thompson & Christopher Eccleston Join Trans Marriage Drama 'Hear Me Roar'
Emma Thompson in "Why Didn't They Ask Evans" and Christopher Eccleston in "The A Word"
(Photos: Courtesy of BritBox and Sundance TV)
For all that a particular segment of the population likes to complain about the shallow nature of the entertainment industry, it's hard to understate film and television's power to shape and inform our society. The most recent example is Mr Bates vs The Post Office, whose dramatization of a real-life story of injustice sparked government action. By bringing marginalized characters and stories to life, television and film can familiarize and humanize what is most different from us*. Given the steadily increasing public vitriol levied at trans people in public life, a movie like Hear Me Roar feels both incredibly timely and very necessary.
(*It's hard to overstate what a big deal it was to have a show like Will & Grace airing during NBC primetime back in the early 2000s, for example.)
Hear Me Roar will depict the story of a transgender woman who took on the British government in a legal battle over her marriage that ultimately changed the lives of LGBTQ+ people in the U.K. The film follows the story of Elizabeth Bellinger, who married her husband, Michael, at a South London registry office in 1981. He was the only person who knew she was transgender, and they kept this secret from everyone for nearly 20 years. In 2000, Bellinger launched a campaign to have her marriage legally recognized, and the case went to court.
Hear Me Roar is written by Lisa McMullin and Ashley Bayston, the lawyer who argued Bellinger's case. The drama charts the complex legal obstacles she and the couple faced over the ensuing years.
Rebecca Root in AMC's "Monsieur Spade" and Anna Friel in Netflix's "Marcella"
(Photo: Courtesy of AMC Networks and Buccaneer Media for ITV)
“I can’t believe this is finally happening and that the story of Liz and my battle is to be told by such an amazing team of actors, " Bayston said. "We used to joke about a film being made some day but couldn’t imagine such young and glamorous actors portraying us. This story has to be told and these are exactly the right people to tell it.”
The film will star Rebecca Root (Monsieur Spade) as Bellinger, with Christopher Eccleston (True Detective: Night Country) as her husband, Michael. Anna Friel (Marcella) takes on the role of Bayston, and Emma Thompson (Why Didn't They Ask Evans?) will play the judge in the case, Elizabeth Butler-Sloss. The cast also includes Julian Ovenden (Bridgerton) in an undisclosed role.
“I’m weeping like a baby, it’s so moving and powerful and funny," Thompson said in a statement. "It’s a great story and script with wonderful characters – I just loved it and it moved me deeply. I think it’s both fascinating and profoundly meaningful and essential.”
Hear Me Roar is directed by Amy Coop from a script co-written by McMullin and Bayston. It is produced by Darren Stuart (Capital Punishment) and David Nichols (William Tell).
As this project only just kicked into gear, the film does not yet have a release date.
