Ray Fisher has been cast as Black Panther Party member Chuck Johnson in Being Heumann, Apple Studios’ upcoming civil rights drama based on the bestselling memoir of the same name by disability activist Judy Heumann.
He joins a growing ensemble that includes Ruth Madeley, Mark Ruffalo, Dylan O’Brien, Madeline Delp, and Rob Delaney.
Directed by Oscar winner Siân Heder (CODA), Being Heumann centers on Judy Heumann (played by Madeley) as she leads a historic 28-day sit-in at the San Francisco Federal Building in 1977. Over 100 disabled activists occupied the building in protest, demanding enforcement of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act—a law requiring all federally funded spaces to be accessible. The protest ultimately helped shape the modern disability rights movement.
Delp will portray fellow disability rights leader Kitty Cone, while Fisher plays Chuck Johnson, a key member of the Black Panther Party who supported the movement during the protest. Delaney steps into the role of Congressman Miller, likely based on real-life U.S. Representative George Miller, a crucial political ally to Heumann.
Ruffalo plays Joseph Califano, then U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Jimmy Carter. O’Brien portrays Evan White, one of the few journalists reporting on the sit-in.
Being Heumann is written by Heder and disability rights advocate Rebekah Taussig. The film is produced by David Permut (Hacksaw Ridge), Kevin Walsh (Napoleon), and Heumann’s managers John W. Beach and Kevin Cleary. Executive producers include Heumann, her memoir co-author Kristen Joiner, Diana Pokorny, and Crip Camp co-director Jim LeBrecht.
The film is being developed under Heder’s overall deal with Apple and continues the streamer’s slate of socially resonant storytelling.