Brandon Flynn cast as James Dean
The 13 Reasons Why actor has been cast as the late legendary star in Willie and Jimmy Dean, writer-director Guy Guido's upcoming film, which is based on William Bast's 2006 memoir Surviving James Dean, in which he alleged he had a love affair with the Hollywood icon at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Brandon, 31, has praised the script for humanising his character and showing an understanding of who he really was.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: '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. This script is a beautiful attempt at truthfully understanding who he really was — not just the icon, but the man.
"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."
The script is set from the first meeting between the two men to James' death in September 1955 and Guy is delighted to have Brandon on board.
He said: '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. 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.'
The fimmaker, who spoke to William in 2011, four years before his death at the age of 84, previously told how he felt "drawn" to the author's "unique story".
He told The Hollywood Reporter: 'I have been a fan and historian of James Dean since I was 18 years old, so I knew about his 'friend' Willie, even when information about their relationship was straight-washed by the Hollywood machine.
'As a filmmaker, I love telling the story of a celebrity's life in their coming-of-age period. As a gay man, I was particularly drawn to Bast's unique story.'
In the book, William claimed he and the Hollywood legend become roommates, close friends and eventually lovers during their time at the UCLA's theatre programme when the pair were 19.
The author - who also wrote James Dean: A Biography in 1956 - claimed the fling was kept private in an effort to protect the actor's flourishing Hollywood career, though he hoped he could reunite with his supposed forbidden lover one day.
However, the writer's dream of a relationship was cruelly taken away from him when the Rebel Without a Cause star died in a car accident at the age of 24 in 1955.
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