The Normal Heart, the long-awaited movie adaption of Larry Kramar’s autobiographical play, which last week was released as a HBO film, can count US President Barack Obama among its fans.

The Ryan Murphy-directed feature, which stars Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer, and sets its story during the onset of the AIDs crisis in NYC in the 1980s, apparently “touched” Obama, who called Murphy asking how it “came together”. After a quarter of a century of hard work – with little help from Barbra Streisand – Larry Kramar would have told him!

The Glee creator confirmed to Deadline that he received the call from Obama, adding “The whole movie is about Larry trying to get the attention of Washington and 30 years later, to get a call from the President is a full-circle moment”.

Murphy and Obama have crossed paths before, when the director hosted a major fundraiser for the president at his house in 2012.