Helen Hunt: a sex surrogate in the new film "The Surrogate"

American actress, film director, and screenwriter and Academy Award for best actress winner Helen Hunt has appeared with a new role as  a sex surrogate in the new film "The Surrogate." In this film Helen Hunt is working with John Hawkes, and William H. Macy and it has just been picked up by Fox Searchlight for $6 million. Also recently the new installation debuted at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. According to Reuters, it is the largest acquisition at the annual festival so far this year.

The movie is based on the true story of Mark O’Brien, a poet who spent much of his life confined to an iron lung. When O’Brien decides that it’s time to lose his virginity, he hires a sex surrogate, played by Helen Hunt.

“We look forward to working with Searchlight to broaden the conversation of topics that were once considered taboo and that represent what’s going on in society in a much more open way,” producer Judi Levine said.

According to the IndiWire, Fox Searchlight will release “The Surrogate” later this year and is hoping for the movie to pick up a few awards. Hawkes performance, in particular, is gathering a lot of praise. Peter Debruge at Variety writes: “Performances are paramount in a film like this, and Hawkes works some kind of miracle despite the self-evident physical limitations of the role.”

Hunt, who has been out of the spotlight for several years, was also praised for her performance. Slash Film, which is already calling “The Surrogate” an Oscar contender for 2013, said: “While Hunt’s performance as Cheryl requires her to be nude for a large majority of the film, she’s not only beautiful, but incredibly confident with a sublayer of vulnerability.”