Mitchell Robertson cast as James Dean’s alleged lover Bill Bast in upcoming biopic One Hand Tied
One Hand Tied will draw inspiration from Bast’s 2006 memoir, Surviving James Dean, which explores his alleged relationship with the Hollywood star
By Aaron Sugg
Mitchell Robertson has been cast as gay screenwriter Bill Bast in the upcoming James Dean biopic One Hand Tied, joining Brandon Flynn as the Hollywood heartthrob.
Written and directed by Guy Guido, the film will draw inspiration from Bast’s 2006 memoir, Surviving James Dean, which explores his alleged romantic relationship with the late actor.
Bast’s memoir describes how he met Dean at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) when they were both young actors. The pair became close friends and roommates before developing a romantic relationship, which they kept private to protect Dean’s Hollywood career.
About the upcoming James Dean biopic
The film will follow their relationship from their first meeting through to Dean’s death in a car accident on 30 September 1955, aged 24. It will also explore Bast’s journey towards accepting his sexuality during the 1950s.
Bast died on 4 May 2015, aged 84, in a care facility in Los Angeles, California, leaving behind his long-term partner, Paul Huson.
Dean never publicly came out, although he famously addressed questions about his sexuality in a 1954 interview, when an East Coast reporter asked him about rumours that he was gay.
Dean addresses his sexuality
“No, I’m not homosexual. But I’m also not going to go through life with one hand tied behind my back,” he said.
Director Guido spoke to the Hollywood Reporter about the conflicting opinions surrounding Dean and the desire to explore them in film.
“James Dean has been romanticised and mythologised for more than 70 years, and I think people have become very attached to a particular image of him: the rebellious, brooding, heterosexual heartthrob with a cigarette dangling from his mouth,” he said.
“For some, the suggestion that his sexuality may have been more complex than that challenges a fantasy they’ve held on to for decades. But others are genuinely excited by the possibility of seeing a more layered, vulnerable and multidimensional James Dean — someone who wasn’t necessarily confined to the identity Hollywood created for him. And that’s what really interests me.”
Leading cast: Mitchell Robertson and Brandon Flynn
Robertson is perhaps best known for playing young Niall in the BBC drama Half Man, in which his character struggles to come to terms with his sexuality. The Scottish actor has also appeared in Curfew, Mayflies and A Very British Scandal.
He will star alongside Flynn, best known for his breakout role in the Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why. The actor has also appeared in Ratched and Manhunt, and most recently in Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed.
The James Dean biopic was announced in 2024 and is currently in development. A release date has yet to be confirmed.