Jim Parsons and Taylor Kitsch join Ryan Murphy's "Normal Heart"

Ryan Murphy’s HBO television movie The Normal Heart has just added two more male stars. Awkward and nerdy Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons and Friday Night Light’s star Taylor Kitsch will be joining the all-star cast of the movie based on the Tony-winning play. Parsons and Kitsch will be starring alongside Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer in the HBO film.

Normal Heart tells the story of the onset of the AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980’s. The film is adapted from the play by Larry Kramer, which debuted at New York’s Public Theatre in 1985. There was a 2011 Broadway revival of the play which won the Tony for Best Revival, Best Featured Actor and Best Featured Actress.

Parsons will be reprising his role as gay activist Tommy Boatwright, whom he played in the 2011 Broadway revival. Kitsch will play the role of Bruce Niles, an investment banker who has yet to come out of the closet, and becomes a hugely prominent AIDS activist. Julia Roberts will play Dr. Emma Brookner, a doctor treating some of the earliest victims; Ruffalo will play Ned Weeks, a man who witnesses first-hand how the disease claims the lives of innocent people, and Matt Bomer will play a reporter, who is also Ned’s lover.

The Normal Heart begins production later this year and will premiere on HBO sometime in 2014.