Jim Parsons and Claire Danes have signed on to star in A Kid Like Jake as Brooklyn married couple trying to raise their 4 year old son who would rather dress up like a princess than a GI Joe, Variety has reported.
A Kid Like Jake comes at a crucial point in transgender cinema, over the last four years Hollywood has seen a boost in well received projects that feature transgender characters and tell transgender stories: The Danish Girl starring Eddie Redmayne had several Oscar nominations, Orange is the New Black had booming success with it’s popular transgender character played by Laverne Cox, and Tangerine found critical acclaim with its spunky transgender leads, Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor.
With the political atmosphere shifting, and especially with the presence of President Donald Trump in the White House, transgender issues are continually ignored, or worse, exacerbated. Transgender films have the opportunity to give a voice to people that are often hushed, and can really lead a progressive dialogue, so it’s incredible to see projects like this come to light despite the obvious financial risk.
The film will be an adaption of the popular 2013 Lincoln Center play by the same name, and was adapted by the play’s author Daniel Pearle. It will be directed by one of the few well known transgender directors, Silas Howard. It will also be the first leading film role for television star Parsons, the star of CBS’s The Big Bang Theory. Parsons will also be producing alongside Todd Spiewak through That’s Wonderful Productions, along with Eric Norsoph.
Danes is currently in the sixth season of her hit series Homeland, which is set for another two seasons at least. Her next film appearance will be in Kyle Mooney’s Brigsby Bear, which premiered at Sundance and was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics.
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