Brandon Flynn set to play iconic actor James Dean in biopic Willie & Jimmy Dean about alleged gay romance
An unconventional biopic about legendary actor James Dean has found its leading man in Brandon Flynn.
The 31-year-old Miami native - best known for playing Justin Foley on Netflix 's 13 Reasons Why - has signed on to star as Dean in the film Willie & Jimmy Dean, via THR.
The film isn't a traditional 'cradle to the grave' biopic, instead focusing on his alleged gay romance with William Bast, from when he was 19 until his death at just 24 from a horrific car crash in 1955.
Bast's 2006 book Surviving James Dean purports that they had met at the UCLA Theater program when they were 19, starting as roommates and eventually becoming secret lovers.
The film from writer-director Guy Guido (Madonna and the Breakfast Club) spans from the day Dean and Bast met to his death on September 30, 1955, focusing on their evolving relationship.
The film has been in development for quite some time, with Guido speaking to Bast back in 2011, before his passing in 2015 at 84.
Bast was Dean's original biographer, originally chronicling their relationship in his 1956 book James Dean: A Biography.
Five decades later he published Surviving James Dean in 2006, which revealed that they were gay lovers, but that both also had relationships with women as well.
Bast claimed in the book that they kept the gay romance secret to keep it from harming his career, though he hoped they would ultimately one day live together.
The film will follow Dean and Bast - who has yet to be cast - as they navigate their evolving relationship as Bast ultimately realized he was gay.
'This is not a traditional biopic. It's a tender and sometimes tragic story about two young men who found each other in a time and place where being seen — truly seen — came at a cost,' Guido said in a statement.
The writer-director added, 'Brandon Flynn brings both the fire and vulnerability this role demands. I couldn't imagine anyone more perfect to explore and play out the complexities of James Dean.'
Flynn himself added in a statement, 'James Dean is like the known unknown. His short life left behind just three films, a mountain of photographs and a cultural mythology we keep trying to decode.'
He added, 'This script is a beautiful attempt at truthfully understanding who he really was — not just the icon, but the man.'
The actor continued, 'It highlights how Hollywood has historically forced LGBTQ people into performance, even in their personal lives.'
'This story dares to present James Dean as a man with real, complex relationships, and I think there's power in that truth,' he concluded.
Guido is currently meeting with producers, while Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee of Barden/Schnee Casting Agency are leading the casting process.
Other key roles yet to be cast include Bast and his 'glamorous single mother, Bernice,' though it is unclear when production may begin.
Dean appeared in just three films - 1955's East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause and 1956's Giant, the last two of which were released posthumously.
He was the first actor ever to receive a posthumous Oscar nomination for East of Eden, earning a second for Giant, becoming the only actor ever with two posthumous Oscar nominations.
This won't be the first time Flynn will play a screen legend, portraying a young Marlon Brando in the off-Broadway play Kowalski.
Fans were quite thrilled with the news, with many hoping that Flynn would get the chance to play Dean due to his striking resemblance to the Hollywood icon.
An X user dubbed @crowneddpriince stated, 'Brandon Flynn better do James Dean right, yu got one shot at this boy.'
Another X user - @drivenbyfilms - gushed, 'I still can't believe this is real like i'm actually going insane you guys. Brandon Flynn as James Dean. This is way too f***ing good. I better be able to see this at the cinema I'm not playing.'
Bella (@mi4d0lan) said, 'can't even complain about the Brandon Flynn casting, yeah he's too old but he looks young and JUST like Jimmy'
An X user dubbed @crowneddpriince stated, 'Brandon Flynn better do James Dean right, yu got one shot at this boy.'
Another X user - @drivenbyfilms - gushed, 'I still can't believe this is real like i'm actually going insane you guys. Brandon Flynn as James Dean. This is way too f***ing good. I better be able to see this at the cinema I'm not playing.'
Bella (@mi4d0lan) said, 'can't even complain about the Brandon Flynn casting, yeah he's too old but he looks young and JUST like Jimmy.'
Keira (@kettlevinyl) added, 'I think the hardest thing about nailing James Dean is he moves like no person has ever moved before but Brandon Flynn has very much charmed me with his range lately. I think if someone has to do it he can. But i also wish it didn't exist to begin with.'
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