Actor Ruth Madeley, of Don't Take My Baby fame, will play the disability activist Judy Heumann in Apple Original Films's Being Heumann, which is an adaptation of the activist's memoir.

The film is directed by the Oscar-winning CODA helmer Sian Heder.

Being Heumann follows Judy Heumann as she leads more than a hundred disabled people to occupy the San Francisco Federal Building for a sit-in protest in 1977, seeking the enforcement of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, enabling accessibility to federal spaces to all.

Heumann was bound to a wheelchair after being affected by polio at 18 months. Subjected to discrimination since her childhood, she turned to disability rights activism after being denied enrollment in a public school. She has led several campaigns and was instrumental in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act through her civil rights organisation Disabled in Action. She occupied leadership positions under the Clinton and Obama administrations.

Having starred in The Almond and the Seahorse and the Netflix film Joy, Madeley's big break came with the 2015 BBC drama Don't Take My Baby. Madeley, known for championing disability representation in the arts, was born with spina bifida - a condition affecting the spine and spinal cord development. She'll next lead BBC's The Rapture, a five-part adaptation of Liz Jensen's bestseller.