Sean Bean is in talks to star opposite Sally Hawkins in the romance “Maudie,” which set to start shooting in Newfoundland in July, Variety said.

Bean will play a reclusive local fish peddler who hires Maud Dowley — a tiny disabled woman – to be his housekeeper for his small home. The story, set in the 1950s and 1960s, follows their romance as she becomes a well-known folk artist whose paintings hang in The White House.

Mongrel Intl., the new acquisition division of Canadian shingle Mongrel Media, is handling worldwide sales rights to the period romancer at this year’s Cannes Film Market. “Maudie,” a Canadian-Irish co-production, marks the first pickup for Mongrel Intl.

The film will be directed by Ireland’s Aisling Walsh, who directed Hawkins in the BBC miniseries “Fingersmith,” from Sherry White’s script.

Bean’s credits include “Game of Thrones,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “Mirror Mirror,” “Troy,” “GoldenEye,” upcoming “Jupiter Ascending” and “The Canterbury Tales,” among several others.