Joel Edgerton wants people who believe in gay conversion therapy to see ‘Boy Erased’
The actor-turned-director has helmed the movie adaptation of the 2016 novel of the same name
By Steve Brown
Joel Edgerton wants to share his latest movie, Boy Erased, with people who believe in gay conversion therapy.
The actor-turned-director has helmed the film adaptation of the 2016 novel of the same name which tells the real-life story of Garrard Conley – author of the novel – who was sent to a gay conversion camp by his parents.
The film stars a stellar cast including Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Lucas Hedges and Troye Sivan and has already been tipped for an Academy Award nomination.
But Edgerton said he hopes to “share the movie with as many people as possible” and claimed it doesn’t “demonise religion”.
He told Deadline: “The people who really need to see it are the people who hold opinions that can really be shifted.
“I really do invite them to do that because the one thing the movie doesn’t do is demonise ideology. It doesn’t demonise religion. It certainly doesn’t throw God under a bus.
“It offers an empathic point of view of the people running intuitions like that. I don’t think people wake up in the morning and go, ‘Right, I’m going to mess up some more kids’.”
Boy Erased is set for release in the US on 2 November. Check out the trailer below: