Jim Parsons and Taylor Kitsch are the latest big names to join the cast of the HBO film adaptation of The Normal Heart, Deadline Hollywood reports. The 1985 off-Broadway play by Larry Kramer, set in New York City at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, won Best Revival of a Play at the 2011 Tony Awards. Parsons, currently starring in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory, will play gay activist Tommy Boatwright, reprising his role from the 2011 Broadway revival. Kitsch, of John Carter and Friday Night Lights, will play Bruce Niles, a closeted investment banker who becomes an AIDS activist. The cast already includes Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer. Kramer is writing the screenplay, and Ryan Murphy is directing.

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