Well, it’s finally coming. Steven Soderbergh is well on his way toward the retirement/hiatus/sabbatical that he has threatened us with. After releasing Magic Mike and finishing up shooting on his psychological thriller The Bitter Pill, Soderbergh is stepping behind the camera on his “final” film: Behind the Candelabra. Today, we have our first photo from the set and it features the film’s two stars.
Courtesy of E!, we have the first look at Michael Douglas as Liberace and Matt Damon as his lover Scott Thorson in costume and my, my do they look the part. Douglas looks particularly striking given that he didn’t look much like the famed singer to begin with and we could see an award winning transformation on the cards.
The film is based on Thorson’s biography of the same name and follows the final years Liberace’s life and his secretive relationship with Thorson. The two spent years together cavorting around the world and fell deeply in love. However, the relationship turned sour and Thorson ended up suing Liberace while seeing him die of AIDS.
It certainly is a fascinating story and promises to showcase two excellent performances from actors who haven’t played this kind of role before. Soderbergh has promised us that we’ll see some startling things from these performers and I don’t doubt it.
Set up at HBO, Behind the Candelabra will also feature Rob Lowe, Dan Ackroyd, Debbie Reynolds, Cheyenne Jackson and Scott Bakula. It will be released sometime next year.
