A planned biopic focusing on James Dean‘s personal life has found its co-lead.
Mitchell Robertson, the Scottish actor known for a breakout performance on Netflix’s Half Man, has been cast in writer-director Guy Guido’s indie film One Hand Tied, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Robertson will play the star’s close friend and UCLA roommate Bill Bast and joins Brandon Flynn, who was previously announced as playing Dean.
Formerly known as Willie and Jimmy Dean, One Hand Tied is inspired by true events and draws on Guido’s extensive research. In his 2006 memoir, Surviving James Dean, Bast described meeting Dean at the UCLA theater program at the age of 19 and wrote that the two men became roommates, close friends and eventually lovers. Bast claimed they kept their fling private to avoid hurting Dean’s career while the rising star had relationships with female stars, with Bast remaining hopeful that he and Dean would soon live together again.
Five years after meeting Bast, Dean died in a car accident in 1955 at the age of 24, with two of his signature films, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, released posthumously. His only movie released before his death was 1955’s East of Eden, which is back in the zeitgeist following the recent release of Netflix’s limited series that also adapts John Steinbeck’s novel.
Guido’s script is set from the first meeting between Bill Bast and Dean to the actor’s death on Sept. 30, 1955. Guido spoke to Bast in 2011, four years before his death at age 84. The film will focus on Bast and Dean navigating their evolving relationship and Bast coming to terms with being gay during the 1950s.
Producers include Steven J. Wolfe, known for such projects as (500) Days of Summer, and Flavia Amon, who spent 21 years at Fox Searchlight. Wolfe and Guido are continuing to cast the remaining roles, including the prominent part of Bast’s mother, Beatrice. Guido previously directed the Hulu feature Madonna and the Breakfast Club.
Guido has heard a mixture of reactions from the public in the time since THR first broke the news about the feature. “James Dean has been romanticized 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,” he tells THR. “For some, the suggestion that his sexuality may have been more complex than that challenges a fantasy they’ve held onto for decades. But others are genuinely excited by the possibility of seeing a more layered, vulnerable and more dimensional James Dean — someone who wasn’t necessarily confined to the identity Hollywood created for him. And that’s what really interests me. I’m not looking to completely redefine him, but I am looking to explore the human being who existed beyond the mythology.”
Robertson played the younger version of Jamie Bell’s character in Half Man and can soon be seen in the BBC drama Counsels. “The moment I saw him in Half Man, I knew he was the one,” says Guido. “I was looking for vulnerability and an innate likability, but also strength. Bill lived in a time that was hostile to anyone even perceived as gay, yet he sustained a five-year roller-coaster relationship with James Dean. That takes resilience.”
For his part, Robertson notes, “Guy has crafted a beautifully tender script that steps past the image of the icon and brings to life the human behind it. Through Bill’s eyes, we see James Dean before his name was in lights, before the famous red jacket with the upturned collar. We see him flawed, ambitious and, ultimately, as a young man bursting with love for his friend.”
Wolfe says of Robertson’s audition, “His performance was so beautiful and authentic, it felt as if I were watching dailies from the actual production. I can’t imagine anyone more fitting and worthy of this role.”
Flynn’s previous credits include True Detective, 13 Reasons Why and The Parenting. He makes his Broadway debut this fall with Here There Are Blueberries.
Robertson is represented by Taylor Jefferson at The Artists Partnership and Maryam Hunwick at Hunwick Associates.

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to revoke the release of Thomas Markle, the estranged father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, after the 82-year-old allegedly cut off an ankle monitor while awaiting trial over the possession of child sexual abuse materials.
Markle was arrested on Friday after officials found child sexual abuse images in storage units belonging to him in California, including sexually explicit photographs of himself with minors, the Justice Department said. He was taken into custody in Tampa, Florida, where he was released under house arrest.
He allegedly cut off his ankle monitor at 1:45 a.m. Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Tuesday.
“We are asking the court to revoke his release and detain him pending trial, and we will continue to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law,” Essayli said.
FBI investigators found slides, film negatives, and books that contained “suspected child pornography” in two storage units rented by Markle in Los Angeles, according to court documents. The film negatives including images of naked “pre-pubescent” girls with an adult male, who a witness positively identified as Markle, the FBI said.
One unit had mail bearing the name Thomas Markle and an international driver’s permit with his name, birthdate and a photo appearing to be him, according to a criminal complaint. Markle’s storage rentals date as far back as the summer of 2008, the complaint said.
The seizure last week came weeks after news that an investigation was opened into Markle in the Philippines over allegations that he kept similar images at his home while living there. There were thousands of photos featuring “underage male and females” recovered, authorities said.
Markle has been living in a senior care facility in Florida, according to The Associated Press. He was reportedly forced to return to the U.S. after living in Philippines after he suffered a stroke a leg was amputated.
A judge ordered an independent psychological evaluation to see if Markle was fit to stand trial. The order noted Markle’s health condition, age and lack of recall as reasonable cause to believe he may have some mental “disease or defect” that would render him mentally incompetent.
Markle has denied the allegations, describing the accusations as “sick lies.” An attorney for Markle in court records for Markle did not immediately return a request for comment from NBC News on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Prince Harry and Meghan declined to comment on the arrest last week.
Last month, Meghan revealed that she had been made aware of allegations against her father years ago. She said in a statement that she was “deeply disturbed” by the allegations and that her relationship has been limited with him over the years.
He did not attend her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018, which was the subject of widespread media scrutiny.
Meghan said she has also chosen to keep her children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, away from her father for their protection.
“The breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine,” she said.
British police confirmed that Meghan was passed a letter in January 2019 which contained “a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom.” London’s Metropolitan Police referred itself to the country’s policing watchdog over the handling of the allegations, saying it had not informed other law enforcement agencies of the allegations.

Movie fans are still recovering from Monday’s bombshell that James Gunn and Peter Safran are out at DC Studios. The move came as their latest film, Clayface, does well at the box office; another, The Batman Part II, fights production delays to get into theaters ASAP; and their overarching story is set to continue with next year’s Man of Tomorrow.
What Gunn and Safran didn’t foresee when all that began to percolate was Skydance. The company, which had already acquired Paramount in 2025, acquired Warner Bros. in 2026, and its CEO David Ellison came in with a new vision. Originally, it seemed as if Gunn and Safran were part of that vision. But since the news broke, several different versions of the story have emerged that say otherwise.
As one would expect, the Hollywood trades were all over the DC exit, speaking to sources across the industry. The Hollywood Reporter’s story claims that Gunn and Safran, who were originally announced as being part of the new Warner Bros. team, were told last Friday, November 6, that plans had changed. The Wrap talked to some sources who backed up that version of the story, as well as others who claimed the move happened over the weekend. Basically, whatever the actual case is, it seems very likely the ousting happened rather fast for Gunn and Safran.
The pair are being replaced by Jeremy Latcham, a former Marvel Studios executive. And, according to reports, Latcham may have been aware of this well before Gunn and Safran. The Hollywood Reporter talked to a source who said Latcham had been contacted earlier this fall about the possibility of taking over the studio.
So why the changes? Well, besides some of the bigger, more obvious reasons why Ellison would want Gunn and Safran out (Supergirl bombing, Superman failing to meet expectations, lack of clarity around Batman), apparently much of the tension also had to do with corporate structure. Under their previous deal, Gunn and Safran only answered to Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav. There was no intermediary between them and the boss.
Under Skydance and Ellison, though, that was likely to change, with the pair reporting not to Ellison himself but to the new co-chairs of Skydance Motion Picture Group, Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg. That duo was put in place to oversee movies at both Paramount and Warner Bros., which saw Gunn and Safran’s former colleagues, Pam Addy and Michael DeLuca, similarly shown the door.
Basically, Gunn and Safran were used to reporting to the boss, and now they would’ve reported to someone under the boss, and no one really liked that.
Latcham is expected to be fine with it, though, and since the announcement, there’s been much speculation about what his version of DC Studios might be. Many point to the fact that while Latcham’s claim to fame was his early work with Kevin Feige and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (he also played a key role in hiring Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy), he’s more recently pivoted in another direction.
“An occasional foray into big-budget moviemaking such as Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves notwithstanding, Latcham was focusing on inspirational movies such as the Wright Brothers feature Flyer for the faith-focused studio Wonder Project, where he also helped make House of David, a TV show about the biblical figure,” the Hollywood Reporter writes. “The producer is known to be vocal about his Christian faith and his desire to make uplifting projects.” He even appeared on a podcast called Bible Bros. to talk about Wonder Project. “Let’s be the HBO for the faith and family audience. Let’s try to make movies and television shows that restore faith in things worth believing in,” he said.
What effect, if any, Latcham’s faith-forward values will have on the future of DC won’t be revealed for some time. First, he’ll have to deal with everything that’s currently on the table from Gunn and Safran and decide what to keep, what to discard, and how to move forward. He’ll have to contend with the fact that, no matter what, Gunn’s story will be continuing next summer in Man of Tomorrow. That there’s a weird DC show called The People vs. Gorilla Grodd in production. Plus, there’s that not-so-tiny issue of having a Batman movie on the way that is detached from everything else.
Basically, it’s a messy situation from top to bottom, and everyone is still trying to put the puzzle together. For even more details, head over to the Wrap and the Hollywood Reporter for what we think are the best deep dives.
Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.

Warner Bros. is rebooting the classic 1998 rom-com “You’ve Got Mail,” with Jason Orley attached to direct, Variety has confirmed.
Plot details remain under wraps. Orley is currently drafting a script based on a previous take by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. Neal Moritz and Tania Landau are set to produce under the Original Film banner.
Nora Ephron’s original starred Tom Hanks as major bookstore capitalist Joe Fox, who threatens to put Meg Ryan‘s Kathleen Kelly, an independent children’s bookstore owner, out of business with his new location. While their in-person rapport is naturally confrontational, over the now-defunct AOL Messenger, they spark an anonymous romance. Other cast members include Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey, Jean Stapleton and Steve Zahn. The film was a major box office success following a Christmas-time release, earning $250 million against a budget of about $65 million.
“You’ve Got Mail” was inspired by the 1937 play “Perfumeire” by Miklós László, which was previously adapted into the 1940 comedy classic “The Shop Around the Corner” with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan.
Orley joins “You Got Mail” after recently wrapping post-production on “Close Personal Friends,” an Amazon comedy film starring Brie Larson, Jack Quaid, Lilly Collins and Henry Golding. He made his feature directorial debut with “Big Time Adolescence” in 2019. He followed that with 2022’s “I Want You Back.”
On the small screen, Orley directed six episodes of Pete Davidson’s 2023 Peacock series “Bupkis.” He also collaborated with Davidson on three of his comedy specials.
Orley is repped by UTA, Rise Management and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, & Gellman L.L.P.
Deadline was first to report the news of the “You’ve Got Mail” reboot.

For Russell Brand, this is what prison daydreams are made of … he had his feet in the sand right before his UK rape trial began, and was ready for the possibility he’d be going away for a long time, TMZ has learned.
TMZ obtained photos of Russell when he was all smiles and throwing a big beach bash on September 27th on Grayton Beach in Florida.
A source close to Brand tells TMZ … Russell invited his friends, family, a bunch of people from his church and people from the Path of Grace Recovery to a beach BBQ.
We are told Russell supported Path of Grace Recovery, a local nonprofit that helps women who struggle with drugs and alcohol.
Our source says about 100 people showed up — including his wife and kids — and although it wasn’t billed as one, the event felt like a going-away party because the actor was about to leave for his rape trial in the UK.
We’re told there was a lot of praying, he took photos, visited with everyone who was there and was telling people he was trusting God. He was acting like what sources described as his normal self and gave no indication of being scared or nervous about the upcoming trial.
He did clearly understand what was at stake because we’re told Brand told one of the attendees, “I might be going away for a long time.”
As you know, Brand was convicted last week of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
During sentencing, the judge ripped into him for the reprehensible way he treated the 3 victims … and sentenced Russell to 10 years and 6 months in prison.