Jonathan Bailey and Bill Nighy to Play Lovers in Insomniac City
Dominic Cooke's film of Bill Hayes's memoir will star Jonathan Bailey as Hayes and Bill Nighy as the neurologist and author Oliver Sacks.
Jonathan Bailey and Bill Nighy are to star as real-life partners Bill Hayes and Oliver Sacks in Insomniac City, a new film from British director Dominic Cooke. Bailey will play Hayes, the American writer and photographer, while Nighy will take the role of Sacks, the celebrated neurologist and author.
The casting was announced on Monday 9 November, ahead of the American Film Market in Los Angeles. Sales company Altitude is handling worldwide rights and is introducing the project to international buyers there.
When Will Insomniac City Be Released?
The film adapts Hayes's 2017 memoir of the same name, which tells the story of his new life in New York and his relationship with Sacks during the neurologist's final years. Hayes and Cooke have written the screenplay together, keeping the author closely involved in bringing his own story to the screen.
The Real Love Story Behind Insomniac City
The story follows Hayes as he moves from San Francisco to New York after the death of his partner of 16 years. As he begins to rebuild his life, he falls unexpectedly in love with both the city and Sacks, who was nearly three decades older than him. Sacks was one of the best-known medical writers of his generation, and his books include The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Awakenings. Awakenings was adapted into the 1990 film starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Sacks wrote publicly about his sexuality only late in life, in his 2015 memoir On the Move, and Hayes was his partner until his death in August of that year. The filmmakers describe Insomniac City as an intimate and uplifting portrait of grief, hope, community and second chances.
Cooke has also called it a love letter to New York City, which he describes as a place of endless possibility, reinvention and connection. That suggests the city will be an important presence in the story rather than simply a backdrop.
Who Is Making the Film?
Cooke's previous films include On Chesil Beach and The Courier, and he also has a long career in theatre. Insomniac City is being produced by Troy Lum and Andrew Mason for their UK-Australian company Brouhaha Entertainment, alongside Bailey, Mike Goodridge and Gabrielle Tana.
Bailey's role as a producer adds to a busy period for the actor, whose recent screen work includes Bridgerton, Fellow Travelers and the Wicked films. Nighy, whose film career ranges from Love Actually to Living, brings decades of experience to the role of Sacks.
For both actors, the project offers the chance to portray a relationship that changed two lives at a late and unexpected moment. Cooke has described the story as one that feels both profoundly intimate and epic in scope.
How closely the film follows the memoir will become clearer once production begins. For now, the pairing of Bailey and Nighy makes Insomniac City one of the more intriguing British-led films announced at this year's market.
