Johnny Simmons, Brittany Snow, Jane Lynch and J.K. Simmons are starring in the comedy “The Late Bloomer,” with Kevin Pollak making his directorial debut.
Eclectic Pictures and Ineffable Pictures have begun production in Los Angeles and will shift shooting to Bulgaria.
The cast includes Maria Bello, Kumail Nanjiani (“Silicon Valley”), Beck Bennett, Paul Wesley (“Vampire Diaries”), Ken Marino, Ileana Douglas, Charlotte McKinney, Vanessa Ragland, Blake Cooper and Lenora Crichlow (“Being Human”).
Variety reported in May that Pollak had come on board “The Late Bloomer,” based on Ken Baker’s 2001 memoir “Man Made: A Memoir of My Body.” The book recounts E! news correspondent Baker’s experience of going through puberty for the first time at age 30 after having a pituitary tumor removed. The project was previously set up at Alcon Entertainment.
Producers are Raphael Kryszek and Jesse Israel of Ineffable Pictures with Heidi Jo Markel (“Olympus Has Fallen”) of Eclectic Pictures. Writers on the script are Joe Nussbaum, Paul A. Kaplan & Mark Torgove, and Kyle Cooper & Austyn Jeffs,
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Baker had a benign tumor that rested against his pituitary gland, which delayed his puberty and normal development. The operation to remove the tumor restored him to hormonally normal masculinity, but resulted in him having to experience all the effects of puberty over an extremely condensed three-week period.
Baker was profiled in a “Dateline” segment on NBC following publication. Israel was a producer of that segment and brought the project into Alcon in 2008 when he was VP of development.
Johnny Simmons (“The Perks of Being a Wallflower”) portrays the lead character, who works as a sex therapist in an office headed by Lynch’s character. His suffocating parents are portrayed by J.K. Simmons (no relation) and Bello. Snow portrays the girl next door.
