Friday, November 09, 2018

So Who Plays Rock Hudson?

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Love Simon director Greg Berlanti has just optioned the rights to the Rock Hudson biography titled All That Heaven Allows, and plans on directing the film. (Set this alongside the Anthony Perkins & Tab Hunter Movie, and the Scotty Bowers Movie, and that's a hell of a Mid-century Hollywood Closet-case triumvirate.) Anyway the Rock Hudson book hasn't come out yet, it comes out in a few weeks, so you can pick up your copy here and together we can figure out what's new that needed to be said that hasn't been said in all the other Rock Hudson books. Here what THR says:

"Hudson’s story has been written about before, not just by the actor himself but in books by a former lover and a former publicist, each with his own agenda. There was even a biography about his manipulative agent. Griffin’s book was praised for its balanced and thoughtful look at the man’s life."

Okay, sure, but let's not belittle the book about Hudson's agent Henry Willson, which is a helluva page-turner filled to the collarbones with queer. Anyway a Rock Hudson movie seems to me easier to get made than a Montgomery Clift one, for a lot of reasons -- Rock is better known now and, to be blunt about it, straighter seeming -- and Berlanti is enough of a name to maybe get this off the ground, so maybe this will happen, unlike all those ever delayed Monty ones. But who the hell could play Rock Hudson? Give up your suggestions in the comments! What I'm most curious about is if they're gonna feel the heat to cast an openly gay actor at this point - the drum-beat on that's gotten louder each year.


16 comments:

DCameron said...

Lee Pace. He certainly is the right height and queer as well.

joel65913 said...

Oliver Jackson-Cohen has that rugged movie star look that would work for Rock. I'm all for gay performers getting an equal chance but regardless of their sexuality I strongly believe the most talented actor who is the proper fit for the role should get the part.

Anonymous said...

Armie Hammer?

MovieNut14 said...

Well, Armie Hammer bears more of a resemblance to Hudson (similar height too, I think) but I like DCameron's suggestion of Lee Pace. The shared sexualities would add a new layer to the project.

squeezit said...

Seems pretty obvious to me - the Welsh Rock Hudson - Luke Evans.

Anonymous said...

Noah Centineo!!!!

Matty said...

I feel like I'm gonna get shot down for this, but what about Billy Eichner? I think he can definitely act, and he shares the tallness and queerness too. I also think there's a legit resemblance between Billy and Rock.

Bonus points if they hire his AHS wife Leslie Grossman to play Doris Day.

Anonymous said...

Ansel Elgort

Deets said...

I think Armie Hammer has the size and the beauty, and the name recognition certainly wouldn't hurt.

Scott said...

I'm with the others in thinking Armie Hammer sounds right for this (although Oliver Jackson-Cohen could work too).

Nyc_andrewJ said...

Armie Hammer or Jon Hamm would be my two choices

NealB said...

Bomer? Gyllenhaal?

Anonymous said...

I was looking at Google Images of Rock Hudson and thinking Armie Hammer too (although I am not familiar with most actors). But would Armie do another gay role so soon or along with CMBYN.

Daniel said...

My first thought to play Rock was Tuc Watkins, who was in the revival of The Boys in the Band that played Broadway this summer. He's got the height and the rugged good looks to pull it off.

Shane said...

I think James Wolk would be great

Unknown said...

How can you replicate the most gorgeous man that ever walked the globe. First off, the actor must be totally 100% masculine. He must be at least 6'2" minimum because Rock was more than 6'4" tall. He must have that aura and charm that Rock exuded on screen and the talent that went with it.
It will be a very difficult task to play the tragedy of a closeted man who's emotions were strangled by the society of his day and the constant dread of blackmail and exposure.
I hope the producers do him justice because Rock was a consummate professional. There were no onset tantrums or challenges of director’s instructions, never any fights with co-stars, not only making him a delight to work with but a joy to be around once the cameras stopped rolling. His most important quality, which lights up the screen, in even his most banal pictures, was his natural, limitless charisma”. This was quoted by another Biographer David Brent.