‘Out of My Mind’: Rosemarie DeWitt, Judith Light, Luke Kirby & More Join Disney+ Original Movie
The Disney+ original movie Out of My Mind has added six new actors to the cast. Emmy nominee Judith Light (Julia, American Crime Story, Transparent) and Emmy winner Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) have signed on along with Rosemarie DeWitt (The Staircase, The Estate), Michael Chernus (Severance, Orange is the New Black), and more. The film is an adaptation of Sharon Draper’s award-winning novel of the same name.
Newcomer Phoebe-Rae Taylor stars as Melody Brooks, a girl with cerebral palsy who has a quick wit and a sharp mind. Due to her being non-verbal and using a wheelchair, Melody is not given the same academic opportunities as her classmates. Insecure‘s Courtney Taylor will play Katherine, a post-doctoral candidate and educator who notices Melody’s untapped potential. She encourages Melody to participate in mainstream education, where greater successes and challenges await.
DeWitt will play Melody’s mother and fiercest advocate, Diane, with Kirby playing Melody’s supportive father, Chuck. Light will play “Mrs. V.,” the Brooks’ eccentric but caring neighbor who, though her style may be unconventional, always looks out for Melody. And Chernus will play Mr. Dimming, Melody’s teacher and coach of her school’s trivia team.
Taylor played Issa Rae’s assistant “Quoia” in Insecure. She will next be seen opposite Nathalie Emmanuel in the upcoming Sony Screen Gems feature The Invitation and in the ALLBLK series Send Help. DeWitt’s credits include Mad Men, Little Fires Everywhere, Black Mirror, The Last Tycoon, United States of Tara, Standoff, and more.
Light has appeared in many Ryan Murphy shows in recent years, the latest addition being the upcoming second season of American Horror Stories. She co-starred in the Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed Tick, Tick… BOOM!, currently stars in Shining Vale as well as Julia, and won two consecutive Tony Awards in 2012 and 2013. Kirby won an Emmy playing Lenny Bruce in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and will next be seen in Dark Harvest and Panhandle. Other credits include No Man of God with Elijah Wood, The Deuce, Glass, Little Woods, and more.
Chernus most recently starred in Severance Season 1. Other credits include Ramy, Tommy, Easy, Patriot, Manhattan, Spiderman: Homecoming, and more.
Out of My Mind from Disney Branded Television is produced by Big Beach, Participant, EveryWhere Studios LLC. The film is produced by Academy Award nominee Peter Saraf. Executive producers are Dan Angel, Michael B. Clark, Alex Turtletaub, Jeff Skoll, Robert Kessel, Tom Mazza, David Calvert Jones, Brian Gott, and Eddie Rubin. Amber Sealey (No Man of God) will direct from an adapted screenplay written by Daniel Stiepleman (Humanitas Prize winner for On the Basis of Sex).
Out of My Mind, Original Movie Premiere, TBA, Disney+
