Half Man star cast as James Dean's rumoured gay lover in new biopic opposite 13 Reasons Why star

Half Man star Mitchell Robertson has reportedly been cast as the co-lead in an upcoming new biopic focusing on James Dean's personal life.

The film, which is called One Hand Tied and will star Brandon Flynn (13 Reasons Why) as the Hollywood hearthrob, will feature Robertson as Dean's close friend and UCLA roommate Bill Bast, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Written and directed by Guy Guido, the film — which was first reported to be in development back in 2024 — will draw inspiration from Bast's memoir, Surviving James Dean, in which Bast claimed to have met Dean as a teenager at UCLA, where he alleges they began a romantic relationship.

However, due to Dean's burgeoning Hollywood career, they kept their relationship private.

Bast died in a car accident in May 2015, aged 84.

Dean never came out publicly during his lifetime, but addressing a question about his sexuality in a 1954 interview, he responded: "No, I'm not homosexual. But I'm also not going to go through life with one hand tied behind my back."

Guido said of One Hand Tied to THR: "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 continued in a statement: "For some, the suggestion that his sexuality may have been more complex than that challenges a fantasy they've held onto for decades. But others are genuinely excited by the possibility of seeing a more layered, vulnerable and more dimensional James Dean — someone who wasn't necessarily confined to the identity Hollywood created for him.

"And that’s what really interests me. I’m not looking to completely redefine him, but I am looking to explore the human being who existed beyond the mythology."

Actor Robertson rose to fame as the young version of Jamie Bell's Niall in Richard Gadd's toxic masculinity drama Half Man.

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The actor has also had roles in series including A Very British Scandal, Marriage, Mayflies, Grace, Curfew and Moonflower Murders.

One Hand Tied won't be the first film made about Dean, with the 2001 James Franco-starring TV film James Dean, and 2015's Life, having previously covered the star.

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Authors

Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.