Brandon Flynn has been cast to play legendary actor James Dean in the upcoming biopic Willie and Jimmy Dean.
Brandon Flynn, most widely known for his role in 13 Reasons Why, is set to star as Hollywood legend James Dean in the upcoming biopic Willie and Jimmy Dean. The biopic is directed and written by Guy Guido and adapted from William Bast’s 2006 memoir, Surviving James Dean.
Bast, who passed away in 2015, claimed he was in a romantic relationship with Dean while they were both theatre students at UCLA.
In Surviving James Dean, Bast recounts their closeness and secret romance. He describes keeping it hidden to serve Dean’s burgeoning celebrity. But it ultimately ended with Dean’s car accident in 1955 at only 24 years old.
Flynn, at age 31, says that in addition to the aesthetics of the script, it allowed him to consider Dean as a human being, not just a logo with elaborate feelings and vulnerabilities.
Flynn explained:
“James Dean is like the known unknown. Most artists leave a large body of work to sift through to see their trajectories. He left behind only three films, a mountain of photographs, and the development of a cultural mythology that we keep trying to unravel. This script is a glorious attempt at understanding who he was as a real human being and not just an icon.”
He added that the tale illuminates that LGBTQ people in Hollywood had to also conceal who they were as people away from the camera. Flynn observes that there is something poignantly profound about sharing Dean’s private life and relationships.
Director Guy Guido said that it will not be a regular biopic. He described it as a “tender and sometimes tragic story” about two young men in a time and a place where “being fully seen” was dangerous.
Guido praised Flynn’s performance; he said that Flynn had brought “fire and vulnerability” to the character Dean.
This cinema will review the relationship’s genesis, from their first encounter at UCLA through Dean’s sudden demise in September 1955. Guido has been a fan of Dean for a long time and was so touched by Bast’s memoir that he felt their story deserved to be told honestly and in depth.
Flynn’s relationship to Dean is not purely academic. In interviews earlier this year, the actor indicated he admires the 1950s method stars like Dean, Marlon Brando, and Montgomery Clift. He has played Brando on stage and counts Dean as one of his own.
As an openly gay actor, Flynn is personally related to the layers of secrecy and identity that defined those classic Hollywood stars.
Flynn’s portrayal helps bring Dean’s purported secret relationship to life, but it also illuminates a small piece of LGBTQ history. The film emphasizes Dean’s emotional life and love life, not just his fame. The exploration of his lesser-known aspects of Dean’s life may change how we think of the immortal star.
Willie and Jimmy Dean, starring Brandon Flynn as James Dean, will provide a unique, humanizing portrait of one of Hollywood’s greatest icons. Willie and Jimmy Dean are claiming to explore the emotional truths behind the legend.
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