Exclusive: Dustin Lance Black Says No De-Gaying of J.Edgar Hoover Movie

Dustin Lance Black

A recent online Wall Street Journal interview with J. Edgar director Clint Eastwood left some readers with the impression that the upcoming biopic about famed FBI director J. Edgar Hoover was going to leave out the fact that the notorious historical figure was most likely a gay man. Writes reporter Michael Judge:

When I ask if the screenplay addresses reports by former FBI employees that Hoover was a cross-dresser and perhaps a closeted homosexual, Mr. Eastwood says not really. In fact, what attracted him to the screenplay was the fact that it "didn't quite go down that road."

That sparked a number of websites to suggest that the movie and history was being de-gayed.

The controversy prompted AfterElton.com reached out to Dustin Lance Black, the Oscar winning screenplay writer of Milk who also penned the script for J. Edgar, for a comment about J. Edgar.

Asked if there is any truth to the idea that the movie won't include the fact that Hoover was gay and involved with Clyde Tolson, Black is unequivocal. "To think that somehow you’re going to a make a movie about somebody like J. Edgar and you’re not going to learn what’s in his heart, that’s just not going to happen in a script that I write," says Black. "It’s unfounded [the idea that the movie is being de-gayed.]"

Adds Black, "It’s not difficult to find the script and the script that’s out there is the script that we’ve all been working on."

About the Wall Street Journal article, Black says, "I saw it this weekend as well and I thought 'Oh, I see what’s happening here' … and to me it was a very outdated question. A question that sort of hearkened back to all of the stereotypes of Hoover with cross-dressing and that somehow being a cross-dresser equated with being gay. And I really hope the film deals with his sexuality and his heart in a far more human, realistic way."

Asked what Black thought Eastwood was referring to when he said the movie "didn't go down that road," Black says, "I think he’s referring to the fact that he’s not going into the stereotypes of who Hoover was because they are clownish, they are comic book and they reek of homophobia and he’s not going to do that. I agree with that. It won’t be going into anything that is a gay stereotype, especially that was used in that day to bash gay men. It won’t be going into that because it’s not accurate and it’s not true. It will deal with sexuality in a far more human, realistic way."

Clyde Tolson (left) and J. Edgar Hoover

Black adds, "I see what Clint is saying and he’s being incredibly honest. He’s not giving everything because he wants you to see the movie, but I think one of the things he’s saying is, it’s one part of a very complicated man and its one piece of a very complicated history. To make a movie that’s just about whether or not Hoover put on dresses would be an incredible slight to history."

Black emphasizes, "If you know me, and you know me well, I don’t shy away from these sorts of things. I would say if you’re concerned with the answer, the first thing is to look at is what the question was. The question to me was really interesting actually because it did what people used to do to gay men back in the 30s and 40s, all the way to the 70s really, which is to lump together being gay and being a cross-dresser. It didn’t use any of the contemporary language, but it said 'was he a cross dresser and gay.' And that was a homophobic assumption back then and a not very savvy look at human sexuality and Clint is much smarter than that when it comes to human sexuality. And I think he didn’t want to get stuck in a false debate."

Armie Hammer plays Tolson, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Hoover

Asked if he and Eastwood have discussed how the movie will handle Hoover's sexuality and if he's comfortable that they are in agreement about that aspect, Black says, "[We've discussed it] as much as every other part of the screenplay. Yes, very comfortable."