THR Exclusive: Mitchell Robertson Joins Brandon Flynn in James Dean Biopic One Hand Tied

A planned film about James Dean's private life has found its second lead. Mitchell Robertson, the Scottish actor known for his breakout role in Half Man, has been cast in writer and director Guy Guido's indie feature One Hand Tied, The Hollywood Reporter reported in an exclusive on November 10.

Robertson will play Bill Bast, Dean's close friend and UCLA roommate. He joins Brandon Flynn, who was previously announced as Dean.

The Casting

According to THR, the film is inspired by true events and draws on Guido's own research. It was previously known as Willie and Jimmy Dean. Guido's script runs from the first meeting between Bast and Dean to the actor's death on September 30, 1955.

The film draws on Bast's 2006 memoir, Surviving James Dean. In the book, THR noted, Bast described meeting Dean in the UCLA theater program at 19 and wrote that the two became roommates, close friends and eventually lovers. Bast claimed they kept the relationship private to protect Dean's rising career. Those are Bast's accounts, and Dean never spoke publicly about such a relationship.

THR said the film will focus on Bast and Dean navigating their changing relationship and on Bast coming to terms with being gay in the 1950s. Guido spoke with Bast in 2011, four years before Bast's death at 84.

Who Is Making It

Producers include Steven J. Wolfe, whose credits include (500) Days of Summer, and Flavia Amon, who spent 21 years at Fox Searchlight, according to THR. Wolfe and Guido are still casting remaining roles, including Bast's mother, Beatrice. Guido previously directed the Hulu feature Madonna and the Breakfast Club.

Guido told THR he has heard mixed reactions since the project was first reported. "James Dean has been romanticized and mythologized for more than 70 years," he said, adding that some people are attached to a particular image of the star. "I'm not looking to completely redefine him, but I am looking to explore the human being who existed beyond the mythology."

Of Robertson, Guido told THR: "The moment I saw him in Half Man, I knew he was the one." Wolfe said Robertson's audition felt "as if I were watching dailies from the actual production."

The Actors

Robertson played the younger version of Jamie Bell's character in Half Man and will next be seen in the BBC drama Counsels, THR reported. Radio Times, which followed up on the casting, listed earlier credits including A Very British Scandal, Mayflies and Moonflower Murders.

Flynn's credits include 13 Reasons Why, True Detective and The Parenting, and THR said he is making his Broadway debut this fall in Here There Are Blueberries.

Why Hollywood Is Watching

Dean starred in only three major films before his death at 24, and two of them, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, were released after he died. His screen persona has been studied, copied and debated ever since, so any film that looks behind it is bound to draw attention.

That attention cuts both ways. A biopic built on one person's memoir has to tell a story that the other person never confirmed, and the filmmakers will be judged on how carefully they handle that gap.

THR also pointed out that East of Eden, Dean's only film released in his lifetime, is back in conversation after Netflix's recent limited series adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel. That timing gives One Hand Tied an audience already thinking about Dean.

What Is Not Known Yet

No production start date, distributor or release window was included in the report. The rest of the cast has not been announced. Until those details arrive, the confirmed story is the pairing itself: Flynn as Dean and Robertson as Bast, in a film built on Bast's own telling of their years together.