James Franco has had a busy couple of weeks. He’s announced the cast of his adaptation of John Steinbeck’s In Dubious Battle, premiered his starring role in I Am Michael, and as you can see below, he got in a booth at Sundance with Zachary Quinto to have a make-out session.
He also took time while in Park City to talk about how he got an unlikely thank you from Michael Glatze, the man he plays in I Am Michael. It’s perhaps surprising as it chronicles how Glatze went from being a gay activist working to help LGBT youth to becoming an ex-gay poster-boy and married to a woman.
However PinkNews reports Franco as saying, “I haven’t had that many conversations with him [Glatze]… I met him in person for the first time here at the festival. He made a point to come up to me and thank me, and he said he loved the movie. I think it was very healing for him.”
The actor continues, “In a way, we had to show to him we were going to have a very even-handed, non-judgemental approach, but we also had to say to ourselves, ‘We’re not telling this story just to make Michael happy, we’re telling the story to get both sides.’ The best we could do was say to him, ‘We have good intentions. We’re not going to crucify or judge you but we also need to tell the story from the other side as well as the side you’re on now.'”
Indeed, many have expressed frustration at the film for how even-handed it is, with many reviewers seeming annoyed that it doesn’t completely skewer Glatze and vilify him after he turns his back on his gay life, with some even saying this lack of a strong pro or anti viewpoint could limit its success. It’ll be interesting to see how others react as the movie expands beyond Sundance.
Take a look below for Franco and Quinto having a snog.
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