7 Jan 2015 3:15 PM PT
HBO liked what they saw in Matt Bomer from his role in The Normal Heart, and so they have teamed up with him to have him star in a new biopic on the dashing Montgomery Clift. Bomer was originally attached to star in a biopic penned by Chrisopher Lovick, which was to be directed by Larry Moss as an indie feature which shopped around for financing.
“To see the kind of intense vulnerability and realism that he brought to his work at a time when that was not the style—it’s profound,” Bomer said in an interview last year. “He knew everything he was feeling inside—or if he didn’t, you wondered, why was he feeling that when the scene was this? To get to portray someone who was so formative to me as an artist would be terrifying and daunting and thrilling.”
HBO decided to take the project and bring it to full realization and will have Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias re-write the script, but they opted to continue to keep Bomer in the lead role. Moss along with Michael Din, Tony Lipp and Alix Madigan will Executive Produce the feature.
In the era of Marlon Brando and James Dean, Clift rivaled them for the biggest male star title in Hollywood and became one of the first method actors. Clift was dashingly handsome and the films A Place in the Sun and From Here to Eternity brought him huge fame. However, a tragic automobile accident left Clift with a broken nose and with partial paralysis in his face, haunting him for the remainder of his life, even though he continued to make films. He was nominated four times for an Oscar, his fourth nomination coming late in his life for his role in Judgment At Nuremberg.
Following his devasting accident, Clift resorted to drugs and alcohol. He struggled with his sexuality and determined to keep his personal life completely private.
Bomer won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Critics Choice Awards in 2014 and was nominated for an Emmy as well in 2014 for his portrayal in The Normal Heart. He is up for a People’s Choice Award for his role in White Collar in 2015, and is nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 2015 for The Normal Heart.