With Joaquin Phoenix's queer passion project now in limbo since he quit days before principal photography was to begin, an unlikely celebrity is offering to throw themselves into the cinematic ring as his replacement.
via: Pride
Out WWE World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest might have earned himself the title of "Bisexual Undertaker", and now it looks like we might have a "Gay The Rock" on our hands as one wrestler looks to take his talents to the silver screen! Gay AEW star Anthony Bowens has offered to replace Joaquin Phoenix in an upcoming film from Todd Haynes.
Phoenix had been working with Haynes, the director behind other queer films such as Carol and May December, on a new explicitly gay film set to start filming in Guadalajara, Mexico in July 2024. Phoenix apparently "got cold feet" and dropped out of the film just five days before shooting was scheduled to begin. Millions of dollars had already been spent, crew and other cast members were already on location, sets had been built — people are still furious.
Phoenix reportedly gets anxious leading up to all his films, almost dropping out of Napoleon last minute, but it's not lost on many evaluating the situation that the film Phoenix did actually pull out of was one that was explicitly gay. Actor and filmmaker Kit Williamson took to Twitter to air his grievances around queerness and casting in Hollywood.
Bowens then responded, making it known that he was down to fill Phoenix's empty slot.
Bowens is already a busy man. In addition to wrestling, he's dabbled in acting before, and is currently playing baseball for the San Fernando Valley Baseball League's Valley Boys. — not to mention being one of PRIDE's first-ever Grand Marshals. At this last minute, I'm sure Haynes would be willing to work around the multihyphenate's packed itinerary. Who are some other out actors you'd like to see in Phoenix's place?
The real question is can Anthony act? Then again there have been plenty of wrestlers who weren't the best actors that have had successful movie careers.
I also think it's a bunch of BS that they're saying the role cannot be recast. Every actor can be replaced. In fact the process has been done long before speech replaced sign language. Matt Bomer, Luke Evans, Russell Tovey, Jonathan Groff or even Colman Domingo I'm sure would be up for the part Joaquin vacated.
So I agree with the tweet that the gatekeepers of Hollywood feel that only straight actors can tell queer stories.
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