Russell Harvard and Shoshannah Stern will star in Film Harvest’s Hamill, based on the life of deaf championship wrestler and current UFC fighter Matt Hamill.

Production is set to begin later this month in Rochester, New York, on the story of the fighter who became the first deaf wrestler to win a National Collegiate Championship and went on to become a top contender in the UFC world.

Harvard will portray Hamill and previously starred opposite Daniel Day-Lewis as the adult H W Plainview in There Will Be Blood. He will next be seen in the thriller Claustrophobia.

Stern plays Hamill’s love interest and spent two seasons on Showtime’s hit Weeds. Former UFC champion Rich Franklin has also joined the cast and will play Hamill’s wrestling coach.

Oren Kaplan is directing from a screenplay by producers Eben Kostbar and Joseph McKelheer.

Kostbar and McKelheer founded Film Harvest with Cory Knauf. The company’s first film, the psychological thriller Godspeed, recently premiered at CineVegas and won the jury prize for artistic achievement in the narrative feature category.

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