EXCLUSIVE: British actor Adam Pearson has zero intention of living quietly. In fact, that’s the very title of the documentary about him that has just been announced as premiering at the Telluride Film Festival.

Edward Lovelace (Antiheroine, Name Me Lawand) directed the feature, which is set to debut in the mountain enclave on Friday, opening day of the 53rd edition of Telluride. Zero Intention of Living Quietly follows the journey of Pearson who was born with the rare genetic condition Neurofibromatosis Type 1. The actor rose to prominence with his role as Oswald, a man with NF1, in 2024’s A Different Man, in which he co-starred with Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve.

We have your exclusive first look at the film in the clip below.

“Actor Adam Pearson has spent much of his life navigating a world that defines him by his visible difference,” notes a synopsis. “Cinema became his refuge, offering heroes who seemed to live beyond other people’s expectations.

“When Adam meets Ellie, a teenage girl with the same condition, he sees his younger self — and a chance to help her imagine a different future. Their friendship reignites Adam’s own dream of cinema, leading him back to the big screen in his critically acclaimed role as Oswald in A Different Man.

“But as Adam encourages Ellie to step beyond the limits others have placed on her,” the synopsis continues, “he must confront the same fears in himself. In helping Ellie imagine a different future, Adam begins to imagine one for himself.”

In an interview that accompanies press notes for the film, Pearson says he reviewed Lovelace’s previous work before agreeing to participate in the documentary, concluding the director qualified as “one of ‘the good guys’ – in an industry that has historically lacked them.”

Pearson entered into the project understanding the dynamics of the nonfiction form. “Documentary is a super personal medium, by that I mean if people watched ADM [A Different Man] and didn’t like Oswald – that’s just character analysis and will cost me zero sleep and will cause me to do zero comfort eating,” he stated. “If, however, they watch this documentary and think Adam Pearson is a dick – that is me going straight to Walmart to buy Ben and Jerrys, Dr Pepper and Chips Ahoy to cry myself into a glutenous slumber. Ultimately though I have no right to demand or even expect an audience to come away with something. All I can do is attempt to tell a great story and help them see the world around them differently.”

Lovelace said Pearson’s assent to the project came with some conditions.

“When Adam said to me that if there was a film to be made about his life then it would have to focus on two things other than him – that would be the movies that have played a huge part in his life, the stories that stood alongside him, helping him see a path forward when he was younger,” Lovelace recalled. “The second thing would be a young girl called Ellie – she was a big part of his life and a reason that he’s carried on chasing his dreams for so long. Once I had met Ellie and seen how Adam and Ellie interacted – full of banter and humor but also a deep connection of friendship and protection of each other, I knew this could be a special film about so many important things – cinema, identify, acceptance, friendship – all of the things that make me go see movies.”

West Buttermilk presents a Propagate & Ventureland Production. Zero Intention of Living Quietly is produced by John Battsek, Sarah Thomson, Fleur Nieddu, Edward Lovelace, Howard T. Owens, and Ben Silverman. Executive producers include James Packer, Kerstin Emhoff, Ali Brown, Tim Murray, Drew Buckley, Isabel San Vargas, and Taylor Levin.

The director of photography is Ruben Woodin Dechamps. Julian Hart, Nic Zimmermann, and David Charap edited the film; the score is composed by Stephen Rennicks and Hugh Drumm.

In the clip below, Pearson talks with Ellie about filming A Different Man, and a particularly audacious scene.

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