Actor Brandon Flynn to Play James Dean in New Movie About Gay Romance
Director Guy Guido's "Willie and Jimmy Dean" will tell the story of Dean's complicated and sometimes romantic relationship with best friend William Bast.
Actor Brandon Flynn will take on the role of James Dean in a new film exploring the rocky and sometimes romantic friendship between Dean and his best friend William Bast, according to the film’s director, Guy Guido. Willie and Jimmy Dean is based on Bast’s 2006 memoir, Surviving James Dean, a revision of his 1956 biography James Dean, in which Bast restored sections on Dean’s same-sex relationships and Bast’s own homosexuality that he self-censored in the first book.
Guido and Flynn made the announcement earlier today in The Hollywood Reporter, but I’ve been aware of Flynn’s casting for some time. I wasn’t able to say anything until the public announcement. Recently, Guido asked me to send Flynn an autographed copy of my book, Jimmy: The Secret Life of James Dean, and I am excited that Guido and Flynn are using my book for background research into Dean’s life and character.
The film “highlights how Hollywood has historically forced LGBTQ people into performance, even in their personal lives,” Flynn told The Hollywood Reporter. “This story dares to present James Dean as a man with real, complex relationships, and I think there’s power in that truth.”
This is, of course, the same thing that I tried to do in Jimmy, and I hope that the movie will help to bring a truer version of the story of James Dean to a broader audience.
I am delighted that Flynn will be playing Dean. He is the actor I would have chosen for the role. He recently played Marlon Brando on stage, which would have delighted Dean to no end. His performance as “Justin Foley” in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why is a nearly perfect dry run for Dean, and I remarked at the time that the character and Flynn’s performance, particularly in the early seasons, were an almost dead-on recreation of James Dean. Dean was probably a touch fierier and angrier than Justin, but the combination of bravado and vulnerability is the same.
Guido saw the same thing. As he told The Hollywood Reporter:
“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.”