Directed by Moreton, Testosterone follows an obsessed, spurned lover named Dean (David Sutcliffe), who follows his fleeing boyfriend Pablo (Antonio Sabato, Jr.) all the way to Argentina to find out why he left him. The reason why is sure to stir up plenty of conversation and debate. I recently spoke with Hensley and Moreton about their collaboration, which is released on DVD today.

AfterElton.com: I feel a special connection to the late author James Robert Baker, because his novel Tim & Pete was the first book I ever reviewed for a gay publication. What can you tell me about your connection to Baker?
Dennis Hensley: I read Tim & Pete probably around the same time as you did and thought it was terrific, really engrossing and oddly romantic and darkly funny in a way I hadn’t really seen before in gay literature. I didn’t read Testosterone until after I’d gotten involved in working with David on the screenplay—I actually read one of David’s early drafts first—but when I did I was blow away by it. I love Baker’s brutal humor and honesty and how they fly in the face of political correctness. He didn’t seem to give a fuck what people thought of him and it’s a tragedy that he’s no longer around.
David Moreton: Baker had died before I read any of his writing, but I became a fan on page one. Baker has this amazing ability to make everything feel immediate and urgent. I think that with Testosterone, Baker has captured the essence of obsession. The main character knows he's obsessed, he knows that what he's doing is a little crazy, but he can't help himself, and cannot stop himself. In the midst of heartbreak we all find a survival tool to help us deal with the tremendous pain of being dumped. Dean, unfortunately, just happens to find a tool that's also a felony.

AE: What is the chronology of the project? Who approached whom about adapting the book for film?
DH: David and I met at a party and agreed to work on another project; a mainstream screwball caper comedy called Tom Foolery, which we worked very diligently on for like a year and had a great time collaborating. The whole time we were working together David was developing the script of Testosterone on his own and had written several drafts. When it looked like he might get the money to do it, he came to me and asked if I’d help him polish the script and pump up the humor in it. We ended up working quite intensely on it for several months. I feel the end result is very much a meeting of our two warped minds.

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