While he didn’t end up taking home the trophy, an Oscar nomination for John Hawkes was vindication enough for the longtime character actor, who’s been putting in exceedingly good work in numerous films over the years. And while the shine of Oscar may add a few more dollars to his paycheck, the actor doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave his indie roots for glossier fare.
Variety reports Hawkes is set to star in the drama “Surrogate.” The challenging material is based on the true-life story of journalist and poet Mark O’Brien. Stricken with polio at the age of six, he was left paralyzed from the neck down and spent the remainder of life in an iron lung. That did little, however, to stop O’Brien’s ambitions and he ended up completing a B.A. in English literature, going on to become a published journalist and poet. His story was documented in the 1996 documentary “Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O’Brien” (watch it below), however this film will focus on a more curious chapter in O’Brien’s life: his hiring of a sex surrogate to help him explore his sexuality.
The film will be written and directed by Ben Lewin (“The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish“) though no word yet on when it will lens. It’s definitely some original, fascinating material and we’re glad to see Hawkes lending his name to this kind of fare in the wake of his brush with mainstream glory.
