A biopic based on ‘Surviving James Dean’ is said to be in the works.
The film, which adapts late author William Bast’s 2006 book in which he claims he had a love affair with the Hollywood icon while at the University of California, Los Angeles, is written and directed by Guy Guido, who acquired the rights to the memoirs.
Guido told The Hollywood Reporter: “I’ve been a fan and historian of James Dean since I was 18, so I knew his ‘friend’ Willie even when the Hollywood machine was covering up information about their relationship. As a director, I like to tell the story of a celebrity’s life in their developmental phase. As a gay man, I was particularly drawn to Bast’s unique story.” In the book, Bast, who died in 2015 at the age of 84, claims that he and Dean were roommates, close friends, and others during their time at UCLA’s theater program when the two were 19 finally became lovers. The author, who also wrote ‘James Dean: A Biography’ in 1956, claimed the affair was kept secret at the time to protect the actor’s blossoming Hollywood career.
