Author Topic: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--  (Read 16166 times)

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2012/12/13/matt-damon-will-be-nude-lot-liberace-movie






Matt Damon
Will Be Nude 'A Lot'
in Liberace Movie

By Jeremy Kinser
12.13.2012




The actor shares details about his love scenes with Michael Douglas and reveals other gay-themed films he's turned down in the past.

Get ready to see a lot more of Matt Damon. The actor tells Playboy  he filmed nude scenes for Behind the Candelabra,  the upcoming HBO biopic, in which he portrays Scott Thorson, the paramour of late entertainer Liberace, played by Michael Douglas.

"Normally I'd say no to nudity, but I just did a lot of it playing the long-term partner of Liberace," the 42-year-old father of four reveals, when asked by Stephen Rebello how raising a family has affected his film choices. "I mean, it's tastefully done."

Damon says neither he nor Douglas had any reservations about tackling such complex gay characters. "We both have a lot of gay friends, and we were not going to screw this up or bullshit it," It wasn’t the most natural thing in the world to do, though. Like, for one scene, I had to come out of a pool, go over to Michael, straddle him on a chaise longue and start kissing him. And throughout the script, it’s not like I kiss him just once. We drew it up like a football plan." Damon, ever the gentleman, says Douglas was a "wonderful kisser," but refrains from making any pitcher-catcher cracks.

The actor, who memorably portrayed the sexually ambiguous title character in The Talented Mr. Ripley,  laments on a couple of roles he turned down in a pair of widely-acclaimed gay-themed films. "Milk  was another hard one because I was excited it would have been for Gus Van Sant, and I would have had the chance to do scenes with Sean Penn," Damon recalls. "They pushed the schedule and it ran into the slot for Green Zone.  Steven Soderbergh ’s mantra is 'The movie gets the right person; the right actor gets the part,' but I was like, 'Shit, no. That was my part.' But when I saw Milk,  Josh Brolin was so fucking good that I knew Soderbergh was right. Way back, Gus and I talked about my doing Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix, but I had just done The Talented Mr. Ripley  and All the Pretty Horses,  so I said, 'Gus, let’s do it in a couple of years. I just did a gay movie and a cowboy movie. I can’t do a gay cowboy movie now.' The right actor got the part. Heath Ledger was magnificent."

Damon also addresses the gay rumors that sprung from his close friendship with Ben Affleck, after the duo won Academy Awards for writing the Good Will Hunting  screenplay and the media portrayed the two as inseparable. "I never denied those rumors because I was offended and didn’t want to offend my friends who were gay—as if being gay were some kind of fucking disease," Damon says now. "It put me in a weird position in that sense. The whole thing was just gross. But look, there have been great signs of progress—the fact that Anderson Cooper and Ellen DeGeneres can come out so beautifully and powerfully, and it’s a big fucking deal that it turns out nobody gives a shit. If Liberace were alive today, everybody would love his music and nobody would care what he did in his private life. Like with Elton John."



"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Katie77

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #1 on: December 15, 2012, 03:45:49 am »
I could never before picture anyone else other than Heath and Jake in Brokeback Mountain, but being a big fan of Mat Damon and Joaquin Phoenix, I do think they would have had the personality and the appearance to have played the parts very well.

What a great outlook Mat Damon has on life and his friends and his work. No wonder he is so well liked.

Beyond the Candelabra is going to be amazing with both Mat Damon and Michael Douglas.
Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect.

It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfection

Offline tampatalon

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #2 on: December 15, 2012, 04:07:27 am »
I agree :)
"Lean on me, Let our hearts beat in time, Feel strength from the hands that have held you so long. Who cares where we go on this rutted old road, In a world that may say that we're wrong."--EmmyLou Harris

Offline Sophia

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #3 on: December 15, 2012, 10:02:13 am »
I wonder which caracter he would have played? Jack, Ennis, Aguirre, the mexican  :)

Offline Monika

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #4 on: December 15, 2012, 10:20:06 am »
I wonder which caracter he would have played? Jack, Ennis, Aguirre, the mexican  :)
He would have played Ennis

Offline Sophia

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #5 on: December 15, 2012, 11:40:36 am »
He would have played Ennis

Oh my god a cheerful Ennis....

Offline delalluvia

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #6 on: December 15, 2012, 06:19:51 pm »
Oh my god a cheerful Ennis....

Didn't you see Damon in the Jason Bourne series?  He can play dour and glum too.

I think he would have made a fine Ennis, but Heath ...  he was born to play that role.

Offline Penthesilea

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2012, 04:14:33 am »
Didn't you see Damon in the Jason Bourne series?  He can play dour and glum too.

I think he would have made a fine Ennis, but Heath ...  he was born to play that role.


What you said, exactly. :)

But I can't picture Joaquin Phoenix as charming, hopeful, dreamy, cocky young Jack. I think Phoenix makes great outcasts and psychopaths though.

And much as I liked MOPI and GWH, I'm glad Gus Van Sant didn't get to make our movie. I'm sure those three could have done a good movie from it, but it would have been just that: a good movie.

The film gods must have had a stellar day when they put all the people together who made BBM so outstanding.

Offline Meryl

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2012, 01:54:27 pm »
The film gods must have had a stellar day when they put all the people together who made BBM so outstanding.

Amen, sistah!  8)
Ich bin ein Brokie...

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #9 on: April 15, 2013, 12:04:27 pm »
As LaShawn said, I'm behind the times. Michael Douglas as Liberace? This HBO movie will air later this spring, and will be <sob> Steven Soderburgh's last filmmaking project, unless all his fans can persuade him otherwise. Thanks, friend Aloysius, for posting this information. BTW, where have you been lately? Here and there? Hope you're enjoying good health!


http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2012/12/13/matt-damon-will-be-nude-lot-liberace-movie






Matt Damon
Will Be Nude 'A Lot'
in Liberace Movie

By Jeremy Kinser
12.13.2012




The actor shares details about his love scenes with Michael Douglas and reveals other gay-themed films he's turned down in the past.

Get ready to see a lot more of Matt Damon. The actor tells Playboy  he filmed nude scenes for Behind the Candelabra,  the upcoming HBO biopic, in which he portrays Scott Thorson, the paramour of late entertainer Liberace, played by Michael Douglas.

"Normally I'd say no to nudity, but I just did a lot of it playing the long-term partner of Liberace," the 42-year-old father of four reveals, when asked by Stephen Rebello how raising a family has affected his film choices. "I mean, it's tastefully done."

Damon says neither he nor Douglas had any reservations about tackling such complex gay characters. "We both have a lot of gay friends, and we were not going to screw this up or bullshit it," It wasn’t the most natural thing in the world to do, though. Like, for one scene, I had to come out of a pool, go over to Michael, straddle him on a chaise longue and start kissing him. And throughout the script, it’s not like I kiss him just once. We drew it up like a football plan." Damon, ever the gentleman, says Douglas was a "wonderful kisser," but refrains from making any pitcher-catcher cracks.

The actor, who memorably portrayed the sexually ambiguous title character in The Talented Mr. Ripley,  laments on a couple of roles he turned down in a pair of widely-acclaimed gay-themed films. "Milk  was another hard one because I was excited it would have been for Gus Van Sant, and I would have had the chance to do scenes with Sean Penn," Damon recalls. "They pushed the schedule and it ran into the slot for Green Zone.  Steven Soderbergh ’s mantra is 'The movie gets the right person; the right actor gets the part,' but I was like, 'Shit, no. That was my part.' But when I saw Milk,  Josh Brolin was so fucking good that I knew Soderbergh was right. Way back, Gus and I talked about my doing Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix, but I had just done The Talented Mr. Ripley  and All the Pretty Horses,  so I said, 'Gus, let’s do it in a couple of years. I just did a gay movie and a cowboy movie. I can’t do a gay cowboy movie now.' The right actor got the part. Heath Ledger was magnificent."

Damon also addresses the gay rumors that sprung from his close friendship with Ben Affleck, after the duo won Academy Awards for writing the Good Will Hunting  screenplay and the media portrayed the two as inseparable. "I never denied those rumors because I was offended and didn’t want to offend my friends who were gay—as if being gay were some kind of fucking disease," Damon says now. "It put me in a weird position in that sense. The whole thing was just gross. But look, there have been great signs of progress—the fact that Anderson Cooper and Ellen DeGeneres can come out so beautifully and powerfully, and it’s a big fucking deal that it turns out nobody gives a shit. If Liberace were alive today, everybody would love his music and nobody would care what he did in his private life. Like with Elton John."

"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline CellarDweller

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #10 on: April 30, 2013, 08:17:48 am »
I can't picture Matt in Brokeback, but it's always interesting to hear who was up for various roles.

I remember Mark Walberg was also up for the part of Ennis.


Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!

Offline RouxB

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #11 on: April 30, 2013, 09:22:44 pm »
I can picture Matt but not Joaquin. I can't imagine that i would have fell so head over heels in love with those two however.

Heathen

Offline CellarDweller

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #12 on: May 01, 2013, 07:48:03 am »
I can picture Matt but not Joaquin. I can't imagine that i would have fell so head over heels in love with those two however.

I would have to agree with you on that one, I really haven't liked either of them in anything they did.


Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!

Offline Monika

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #13 on: May 01, 2013, 07:54:55 am »
I think Joaquin is pretty good in everything he does, but even so....it would have been an entire movie altogether.
What they ended up with was perfection - why mess with that?

Offline serious crayons

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #14 on: May 01, 2013, 10:27:05 am »
Ditto to what most people have said. I think Matt Damon is a great actor and Joaquin is good, too. And I like Gus Van Sant. If they'd all done it, it probably would have been a fine film. But I bet the Brokie community, if it existed at all, would have far fewer members. The actual real-life film is magic in so many ways.



Quote
the fact that Anderson Cooper and Ellen DeGeneres can come out so beautifully and powerfully, and it’s a big fucking deal that it turns out nobody gives a shit.

I agree with his overall sentiment here, but it's an odd pairing. When Ellen came out, it made the cover of Time magazine with a "Yep, I'm gay" cover, ultimately changed the course of her comedy show and entire career. When Anderson came out, it was via an offhand remark in an interview and then everyone moved on. What a difference [however many years it was] makes.

I'm sure he probably meant that nobody gives a shit about either at this point, and I agree, they don't seem to -- both are beloved and successful -- and that's great.

Still waiting for a "leading man" or "leading lady" type to come out, though. No doubt movie stars who play straight romantic roles are scared that it would hurt their careers, and their caution is understandable. Even Jodie Foster, who never plays romantic roles these days, has been hedgy.

The mainstream public has grown up a lot in the past 10 years or so. Maybe people are ready for that next step.



Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #15 on: May 01, 2013, 11:03:03 am »


Still waiting for a "leading man" or "leading lady" type to come out, though. No doubt movie stars who play straight romantic roles are scared that it would hurt their careers, and their caution is understandable. Even Jodie Foster, who never plays romantic roles these days, has been hedgy.

The mainstream public has grown up a lot in the past 10 years or so. Maybe people are ready for that next step.

What about Richard Chamberlain? He was outed in 1989 and came out in 2003 through his autobiography. He has continued to appear in television and on Broadway.
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline oilgun

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Re: OUT: Matt Damon almost did Brokeback Mountain with Joaquin Phoenix--
« Reply #16 on: May 01, 2013, 07:39:09 pm »
Ditto to what most people have said. I think Matt Damon is a great actor and Joaquin is good, too. And I like Gus Van Sant. If they'd all done it, it probably would have been a fine film. But I bet the Brokie community, if it existed at all, would have far fewer members. The actual real-life film is magic in so many ways.



I agree with his overall sentiment here, but it's an odd pairing. When Ellen came out, it made the cover of Time magazine with a "Yep, I'm gay" cover, ultimately changed the course of her comedy show and entire career. When Anderson came out, it was via an offhand remark in an interview and then everyone moved on. What a difference [however many years it was] makes.

I'm sure he probably meant that nobody gives a shit about either at this point, and I agree, they don't seem to -- both are beloved and successful -- and that's great.

Still waiting for a "leading man" or "leading lady" type to come out, though. No doubt movie stars who play straight romantic roles are scared that it would hurt their careers, and their caution is understandable. Even Jodie Foster, who never plays romantic roles these days, has been hedgy.

The mainstream public has grown up a lot in the past 10 years or so. Maybe people are ready for that next step.




Also, look at the double standard in sports:

Two professional baskeball players come: one makes the front page of all newspapers,  the other just elicits shrugs.  Men in sports can't be gay and women in sports are assumed to be gay.  It's not surprising really.