Film

Half Man star to play Brandon Flynn’s on-screen lover in James Dean biopic

Nov 12
Written by Jack Wetherill

Mitchell Robertson has joined the James Dean biopic (Getty Images)

Half Man star Mitchell Robertson has joined Brandon Flynn in the upcoming James Dean biopic, as the 13 Reasons Why star’s on-screen lover.

As announced by The Hollywood Reporter, Robertson will star opposite Flynn as Bill Bast, a former roommate and apparent lover of legendary actor James Dean, played by Flynn.

Out gay actor Flynn’s casting as Dean was revealed in June 2025.

One Hand Tied, previously known as Willie and Jimmy Dean, references an interview, reportedly from the early 1950s, which was the only time Dean discussed his sexuality. He is quoted as saying: “I’m not a homosexual. But I’m not going through life with one hand tied behind my back.”

What is One Hand Tied about?

The film is written and directed by Guy Guido and is based on his 2011 interview with Bast, which took place four years before Bast’s death.

Bast also wrote of the actor in his 2006 memoir, Surviving James Dean. He claimed he met Dean at a theatre programme at UCLA when he was 19, and that the pair became friends and roommates, before it turned romantic. He also claimed they kept the relationship private to avoid damaging Dean’s acting career due to persistent rumours about his sexuality.

The story is set to begin with their first meeting and follow their relationship through to Dean’s death on 30 September, 1955. Dean died aged 24, after a car accident.

Bast died at the age of 84 in 2015.

What have Brandon Flynn and Guy Guido said about the film?

In a Variety interview, Flynn addressed why Dean’s alleged sexuality has rarely been explored on screen. “The short answer is I just think the whole world is just so f****** homophobic,” he said.

Guido has framed the film as a challenge to the familiar, straight-washed version of a Hollywood icon, saying: “James Dean has been romanticised and mythologized 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.” Guido added: “I’m not looking to completely redefine him, but I am looking to explore the human being who existed beyond the mythology.”