Jim Parsons on The Boys in the Band and Why He Wrote Ryan Murphy a Thank You Letter

Описание: With director Joe Mantello’s fantastic adaptation of The Boys in the Band now streaming on Netflix, I recently spoke to Jim Parsons about being part of the production. If you’re not aware, back in 2018, Mantello and his all-openly gay cast including Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Michael Benjamin Washington, Tuck Watkins, Brian Hutchison, and Robin De Jesús, put on a revival of Mart Crowley’s iconic 1968 work, where it played to sold out audiences and went on to win the 2019 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. After the production wrapped, producer Ryan Murphy and everyone involved decided to get back together and make a movie.

If you haven’t seen the trailers or know the material, The Boys in the Band takes place in New York City in the late 60s and is about a group of gay friends that get together for a birthday party. As the night progresses, everyone is forced to examine the choices they have made and the cracks in their relationships begin to show.

What you also need to know is when this production was originally put on Off-Broadway in 1968 it was literally a game-changer. No one was presenting gay men’s lives onstage without judgement. At the time, if you were a member of the LGBTQ community, you needed to be careful about showing who you were both in public and even in private. People were jailed for holding hands in public (and still are today in other parts of the world). In addition, this play happened before Stonewall. Before gay activists won support from the Democratic Party. Before any openly gay person ran for a political office. Simply put: 1968 was such a different era, it’s hard to get your mind around it when you compare where we are today. But art like The Boys in the Band helped change society. That’s why it’s important to know the context and history.

During my interview with Jim Parsons he talked about what it meant being part of this historic material, why he sent Ryan Murphy a thank you letter, how much has changed in the fifty years since the play was originally put on, why filming in order was so beneficial to the cast and filmmakers, and more. In addition, we talked about two specific things that happen in the movie: what Michael inscribed on the frame to Harold, and what Alan wanted to tell Michael.

Check out what he had to say in the player below and further down the page is exactly what we talked about followed by the official synopsis. For more on the film, you can read Greg’s review here and here's my interview with Zachary Quinto.

Jim Parsons:

What kind of present do you give Ryan Murphy after he gives you great roles?
What TV series would he like to guest star on?
What movie has he seen the most?
Has he ever seen a TV series all the way through more than once?
Has he ever imagined what it would have been like seeing The Boys in the Band Off-Broadway in 1968?
How much has changed in the fifty years since the play was originally put on.
Which scene in the production was always a challenge to pull off?
How they pulled off the staging and blocking of the film.
Why shooting in order helped everyone make the movie.
What does he think Michael inscribed on the frame to Harold?
What does he think Alan wanted to tell Michael?

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