No, your proverbial chain ain’t being yanked. You indeed heard correctly. Flying straight out of Cannes comes this latest spot of casting news. From the man behind the gushy flimflam that is Sex And The City, comes a film…of an entirely different ouvre. Based on a true story, Anita tells the tale of real life anti-gay activist Anita Bryant, and now has hot tamale Uma Thurman confirmed to star.
The devout Christian singer spent most of her life peddling anti-gay bigotry to all and sundry. Quite the driven and determined woman, Bryant successfully campaigned to repeal a gay rights bill in Florida. She had a ton of Top 40 hits, no doubt crammed full of backwards rhetoric whittling on about the demonic proclivities of gays. Needless to say, her staunch homophobia cost her the career she worked her whole life to attain. Aw…boo hoo. This also caused her to lose a lucrative contract with the Florida Citrus Commission.
While it may sound like the death knell for any actor; playing an anti-gay zealot, the filmmaking team behind the flick represent the polar opposite of their subject. Directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman have collaborated on a number of films whose impact on gay visibility has been huge. Their resume reads like a gay cinema viewing list doled out at the start of term (well, one assumes). Both worked on the documentaries The Celluloid Closet, Sex in ’69: The Sexual Revolution In America and The Times Of Harvey Milk. For their work on the latter and Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt both producers bagged Oscars.
Darren Star, Howard Rosenman, Jeffrey Schwarz and Dennis Erdman will produce the film. Chad Hodge, best known for his work on TV’s Tru Calling, The Playboy Club and the upcoming Wayward Pines will tackle the writing duties.
While it’s astonishing to even dream of an actress of Thurman’s delectability portraying such a hatemonger…it’ll be an intriguing watch. It may also bag her an Oscar.
Anita is currently seeking backing at Cannes. (The film, not the actual woman. She’s probably seeking help).
