{"id":31716,"date":"2020-07-21T23:20:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T20:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/billy-eichner-to-play-paul-lynde-in-man-in-the-box-biopic\/"},"modified":"2020-07-21T23:20:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T20:20:00","slug":"billy-eichner-to-play-paul-lynde-in-man-in-the-box-biopic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/billy-eichner-to-play-paul-lynde-in-man-in-the-box-biopic\/","title":{"rendered":"#Billy Eichner to play Paul Lynde in \u2018Man in the Box\u2019 biopic"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a347f2153380\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a347f2153380\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/billy-eichner-to-play-paul-lynde-in-man-in-the-box-biopic\/#DEADLINE_Paul_Lynde_was_a_very_funny_actor_but_what_about_him_made_this_worth_movie_treatment_for_you\" >DEADLINE: Paul Lynde was a very funny actor, but what about him made this worth movie treatment for you?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/billy-eichner-to-play-paul-lynde-in-man-in-the-box-biopic\/#DEADLINE_Were_there_roles_he_coveted_but_had_no_chance_getting_and_what_toll_did_it_take_on_him\" >DEADLINE: Were there roles he coveted but had no chance getting, and what toll did it take on him?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/billy-eichner-to-play-paul-lynde-in-man-in-the-box-biopic\/#DEADLINE_How_relevant_is_his_story_to_the_way_things_are_now_for_openly_gay_actors_Still_marginalized\" >DEADLINE: How relevant is his story to the way things are now for openly gay actors? Still marginalized?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/billy-eichner-to-play-paul-lynde-in-man-in-the-box-biopic\/#DEADLINE_Why\" >DEADLINE: Why?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/billy-eichner-to-play-paul-lynde-in-man-in-the-box-biopic\/#DEADLINE_I_recall_when_Rupert_Everett_turned_in_that_great_performance_opposite_Julia_Roberts_in_%E2%80%9CMy_Best_Friends_Wedding%E2%80%9D_and_people_thought_%E2%80%9CTheres_the_next_Cary_Grant%E2%80%9D_He_was_open_about_his_sexuality_in_interviews_and_was_limited_by_that_and_those_opportunities_never_materialized\" >DEADLINE: I recall when Rupert Everett turned in that great performance opposite Julia Roberts in \u201cMy Best Friend\u2019s Wedding,\u201d and people thought, \u201cThere\u2019s the next Cary Grant.\u201d He was open about his sexuality in interviews and was limited by that and those opportunities never materialized.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/billy-eichner-to-play-paul-lynde-in-man-in-the-box-biopic\/#DEADLINE_Are_there_examples_in_particular_where_this_happens\" >DEADLINE: Are there examples in particular where this happens?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/billy-eichner-to-play-paul-lynde-in-man-in-the-box-biopic\/#DEADLINE_How_might_this_movie_help_It_does_seem_a_moment_when_inclusion_is_more_important_and_Hollywood_appears_to_be_listening\" >DEADLINE: How might this movie help? It does seem a moment when inclusion is more important and Hollywood appears to be listening.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Billy Eichner to play Paul Lynde in \u2018Man in the Box\u2019 biopic<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                        <strong>EXCLUSIVE<\/strong>: Actor-co<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>n Billy Eichner and producer Tom McNulty are developing \u201cMan in the Box,\u201d a biopic based on the life of groundbreaking TV icon Paul Lynde. Eichner plans to star. They\u2019ve optioned a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">script<\/a> by Edwin Cannistraci, and Eichner and McNulty are currently meeting with creatives to round out the rest of the production team.<\/p>\n<p>After his breakout turn in \u201cBye Bye Birdie,\u201d Lynde became a big TV star with his guest turns as Uncle Arthur on \u201cBewitched,\u201d and in his role on the long-running <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> show \u201cHollywood Squares.\u201d While Lynde was never publicly \u201cout,\u201d he never lied about his sexuality either, as most famous gay actors of that era did. His unique comic persona often and overtly nodded to his \u201cbarely-closeted\u201d lifestyle in a way that still feels groundbreaking for his time. But he was not on the same lists for roles as straight actors. One of the reasons Eichner wants to see the film made is because of the chance to illustrate how little things have changed.<\/p>\n<p>Eichner\u2019s versatility can be seen in everything from hosting \u201cBilly on the Street\u201d to voicing Timon in \u201cThe Lion King\u201d to playing Matt Drudge in the upcoming \u201cAmerican Crime Story,\u201d and he has written with Judd Apatow a star vehicle for himself with Nick Stoller directing at Universal. He had so many powerful thoughts on why the story of Lynde and his frustrations reflect what gay actors still feel in Hollywood that I thought it best to just run the whole interview.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16015791\"><img alt=\"Maureen Stapleton, Dick Van Dyke, Paul Lynde and Bryan Russell in 1963's \"Bye Bye Birdie.\"\" data- data- height=\"441\" width=\"662\"><\/img><figcaption><span>Maureen Stapleton, Dick Van Dyke, Paul Lynde and Bryan Russell in 1963\u2019s \u201cBye Bye Birdie.\u201d<\/span><span>Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"DEADLINE_Paul_Lynde_was_a_very_funny_actor_but_what_about_him_made_this_worth_movie_treatment_for_you\"><\/span>DEADLINE: Paul Lynde was a very funny actor, but what about him made this worth movie treatment for you?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>EICHNER<\/strong>: There\u2019s some overlap, between Paul and I, in that we both had our breakthrough in the industry, as performers, presenting a rather larger-than-life, flamboyant, gay persona on screen. Even though I was always very out, Paul was never technically out. But he was as out as you could be, at that time, in that he was clearly leaning into a flamboyant persona. Unlike Rock Hudson, and Tab Hunter, and Cary Grant, and all these other actors, he wasn\u2019t pretending to be straight. You didn\u2019t see him getting set up on dates with women, or having phony relationships with women, to try to present to the world as a straight man. I think that was very admirable, for the time, and also, if you look at those jokes on \u201cHollywood Squares,\u201d he comes as close to admitting he\u2019s gay as you possibly can. He\u2019s making thinly veiled, at best, references to gay sex, to finding men attractive, to swinging both ways. It\u2019s not even subtle, and rather bold for the time. That wasn\u2019t some underground, indie film being shot in New York; it was as mainstream as you can get. \u201cHollywood Squares\u201d was a huge hit, always in the top 10 or\u00a0 20 shows, for over a decade. It made him a very famous, wealthy person.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"DEADLINE_Were_there_roles_he_coveted_but_had_no_chance_getting_and_what_toll_did_it_take_on_him\"><\/span>DEADLINE: Were there roles he coveted but had no chance getting, and what toll did it take on him?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>EICHNER<\/strong>: Well, here\u2019s the thing. Before \u201cHollywood Squares,\u201d coming off of \u201cBewitched,\u201d where he played Uncle Arthur, which was kind of another <em>wink wink<\/em> gay character, he was beloved. He got his own sitcom, \u201cThe Paul Lynde Show,\u201d and they made him this straight, suburban dad. I think it lasted one season, premiered to decent numbers, and then fell off pretty quickly, and wasn\u2019t picked up. After that came \u201cHollywood Squares.\u201d I just think it was a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> sense of, you don\u2019t have access to those types of roles. Now, look. He\u2019s a complicated guy, he\u2019s not a martyr or an angel. He had terrible substance abuse problems. He could be a real asshole, and again, one of the reasons I think it\u2019s a compelling story is because when we are presented with these biopics about gay people, we\u2019re often seen as martyrs, victims. We\u2019re not seen as fully complex people, emotionally complicated, and as messy as anyone else. So, he was hypocritical, himself, in certain ways. He was offered, apparently, some gay roles, coming off of \u201cHollywood Square,\u201d that he didn\u2019t want to take. He was scared to take those roles. It was more the general sense that, how could he be the star of this show, this real mainstream hit, in \u201cHollywood Squares,\u201d where everyone\u2019s saying he\u2019s hilarious, waiting on the edge of their seats to see what he has to say, but that could be the extent of his opportunity? It\u2019s hard to imagine that, had he been straight, and not as flamboyant, that he wouldn\u2019t have had such limited options. Now he\u2019s a complicated guy, so some of it was his own doing. After \u201cThe Paul Lynde Show\u201d failed, he was always waiting around, wanting someone to write him a great vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>He wasn\u2019t a Mel Brooks, or Woody Allen, or one of these guys who were also very unconventional comedy stars, who may not have had the career that they had if they didn\u2019t sit down and write it for themselves. You can\u2019t pin it all on the gay issue. It\u2019s more complicated than that, and I like that it\u2019s more complicated than that, because again, he\u2019s not just a symbol. He\u2019s not just some gay victim.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s a complicated person, who didn\u2019t always believe in himself, as much as he should have. But one has to ask, why? Why didn\u2019t the culture, society, the industry, bolster him the way that it bolstered Woody Allen, or Mel Brooks? He did have demons, and the final thing I\u2019ll say is that when people look back at Paul Lynde, and friends of his like Bruce Vilanch have told me this, if Paul Lynde was around to hear that people were still talking about him, he would be floored, shocked. Because he thought of himself as an afterthought, even though he had \u201cHollywood Squares,\u201d he was funny, made money and was famous. He thought the world would view him as a punch line.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16015806\"><img alt=\"Elizabeth Allen and Paul Lynde in his short-lived eponymous sitcom.\" data- data- height=\"441\" width=\"662\"><\/img><figcaption><span>Elizabeth Allen and Paul Lynde in his short-lived eponymous sitcom.<\/span><span>Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"DEADLINE_How_relevant_is_his_story_to_the_way_things_are_now_for_openly_gay_actors_Still_marginalized\"><\/span>DEADLINE: How relevant is his story to the way things are now for openly gay actors? Still marginalized?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>EICHNER<\/strong>: Perhaps we\u2019re not as marginalized, politically, or in the world at large and obviously things have gotten better. But within our industry, although you\u2019re seeing more gay people on TV and more gay characters, we\u2019re often used in such limited ways. I think that dovetails with how Paul felt limited. He came from a very prestigious dynamic acting program at Northwestern, went to New York, did stand-up, and he did Broadway, and I think he absolutely felt that his choices were limited. The same persona that allowed him to become rich, and famous, which was they would never say gay, in those days. They would say flamboyant. That same flamboyance also limited his options. I\u2019ve always been fascinated in Hollywood, with the limited options presented to actors, who present themselves as something other than masculine. We might applaud them, and we might say, oh, they\u2019re so funny, you know, but they have tended, in the past, not to be allowed to have the types of dynamic, chameleon-like careers that straight actors, who get the same level of admiration, the same level of respect, the same number of laughs, have been able to get.<\/p>\n<p>There is no gay Tom Hanks, in this country. There is no gay Will Ferrell. There\u2019s no gay Steve Carell. There\u2019s no gay Paul Rudd. There\u2019s no gay Kevin Hart. There\u2019s no gay Will Smith. The list goes on and on, and that\u2019s not a coincidence. After a hundred years of making films, it\u2019s not a coincidence. It\u2019s not that they just haven\u2019t been able to find the right gay man, who has enough talent to have a career like that.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"DEADLINE_Why\"><\/span>DEADLINE: Why?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>EICHNER<\/strong>: What\u2019s happened is that, when someone comes out of the closet, we celebrate them. We applaud them. We put them on the cover of magazines. We say, thank you for living your truth, and thank you for being brave, and you\u2019re such a role model for our gay kids. And then instantly, that actor gets taken off so many casting lists in the business. This is exactly what happened to Paul, and if it\u2019s still happening today, which I can tell you from my own career, having lived it on the day to day, for almost 20 years now, it happened to Paul in even more extreme ways, and he felt very limited by that.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"DEADLINE_I_recall_when_Rupert_Everett_turned_in_that_great_performance_opposite_Julia_Roberts_in_%E2%80%9CMy_Best_Friends_Wedding%E2%80%9D_and_people_thought_%E2%80%9CTheres_the_next_Cary_Grant%E2%80%9D_He_was_open_about_his_sexuality_in_interviews_and_was_limited_by_that_and_those_opportunities_never_materialized\"><\/span>DEADLINE: I recall when Rupert Everett turned in that great performance opposite Julia Roberts in \u201cMy Best Friend\u2019s Wedding,\u201d and people thought, \u201cThere\u2019s the next Cary Grant.\u201d He was open about his sexuality in interviews and was limited by that and those opportunities never materialized.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>EICHNER<\/strong>: Yeah. Absolutely. The fact that we can put any gay man, on that list of actors I had just mentioned, even in 2020\u2026look, it\u2019s gotten better. There are so many channels, and so much more content being made, that the door was opened particularly on television, for more stories about LGBT people. Ryan Murphy, who I\u2019ve worked with, and Greg Berlanti, these are openly gay men who took the power, and leverage, and money they had and used it to pry open the door for the rest of us, on TV. But even so, I think when you do shows that are exclusively LGBTQ , even when they\u2019re critically acclaimed, they\u2019re put in this niche box. Oh, that\u2019s a lovely show, for gay people. Isn\u2019t that nice? Isn\u2019t it great that \u201cPose\u201d exists? But you have to beg straight people to watch it.<\/p>\n<p>And so it\u2019s like we\u2019re getting thrown a bone here and there. It\u2019s progress, but it has taken such a long time, considering how gay-friendly, on the surface, Hollywood loves to claim it is. They\u2019ll give money, fight for marriage equality, fight for AIDS research and trans rights. Those are all very important things, arguably more important than seeing gay actors become movie stars. But it does speak to a lingering fear about what the audience will accept, who the audience wants to see. Is it economically viable to put gay actors, and gay characters, at the center of a story, and not merely on the fringes?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16015826\"><img alt=\"Paul Lynde with Elizabeth Montgomery in \"Bewitched.\"\" data- data- height=\"441\" width=\"662\"><\/img><figcaption><span>Paul Lynde with Elizabeth Montgomery in \u201cBewitched.\u201d<\/span><span>Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"DEADLINE_Are_there_examples_in_particular_where_this_happens\"><\/span>DEADLINE: Are there examples in particular where this happens?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>EICHNER<\/strong>: One of the main reasons I want to do this is\u2026because gay actors are never, hardly ever, I should say, allowed to play our own gay icons. Harvey Milk, Freddie Mercury, Elton John. Where are the gay actors? And it\u2019s not to take anything away from those performances, which were all excellent. But why don\u2019t we get to tell our own stories? I have a lot of friends, who are openly gay actors, in Hollywood. Many of us are successful, and have carved out lovely careers, to varying degrees. But when it really comes to some big project about a gay icon, the one everyone\u2019s throwing awards at\u2026we love the spectacle of rewarding a straight actor, for quote unquote, transforming himself into a gay person.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t think there needs to be a rule, like straight actors can never play gay, but it is so lopsided. It never works in the other direction. And we\u2019re not even allowed to play our own heroes. I can tell you right now, that a gay actor, a gay person in general, understands the nuances, the idiosyncrasies, and the emotional complexity of playing another gay person, especially a famous gay person, playing another famous gay person, than a straight person does. And we are never granted the opportunity to bring all of our life experience, as gay people, to the screen, and it has become a little bit frustrating, to watch that happen over, and over, and over, again.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"DEADLINE_How_might_this_movie_help_It_does_seem_a_moment_when_inclusion_is_more_important_and_Hollywood_appears_to_be_listening\"><\/span>DEADLINE: How might this movie help? It does seem a moment when inclusion is more important and Hollywood appears to be listening.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>EICHNER<\/strong>: I think you have to shine a light on the issue, in order for people to even understand that it\u2019s there. But I think it\u2019s deeper. Here\u2019s another reason why I want to do the movie. It goes deeper than just the problem of gay actors, not getting enough roles. That\u2019s a problem that affects 0.00001% of the population. It affects gay actors, you know, which is obviously a very, very niche problem, but here\u2019s what goes deeper and here\u2019s what\u2019s universal about it. The reason that [Lynde] was limited in his options, professionally and creatively, was because he did not present as masculine. And the minute someone does that, they are limited in their options. That is the story of gay characters, throughout Hollywood history. The fact that we\u2019re still not there is fascinating to me. What studio executives and the audience at large decided they will believe a gay actor doing on screen, or not doing, is really fascinating to me. It comes down to masculinity. We accept a masculine actor, playing effeminate, and in fact, we\u2019ll reward him for it, greatly. And when the opposite happens, when someone\u2019s presented themselves as flamboyant, or more effeminate, as an actor, or as a person, tries to do the opposite, it\u2019s almost thought of as a joke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, look at him, trying to butch up. That\u2019s hilarious.\u201d Now, I\u2019m not saying we should put value on someone butching up, because f*ck that. There should be no special value on that, but that is the way the world has behaved. And in particular, it\u2019s the way that Hollywood has behaved, and Hollywood has been\u2026now, I\u2019m getting worked up, but Hollywood has been so hypocritical when it comes to gay men, and gay actors, openly gay actors, and all openly LGBT actors. Because on the one hand, they\u2019re the first to attend a fundraiser. It\u2019s like, we\u2019re so liberal, and we\u2019re so tolerant, and we\u2019re so accepting. OK, then, where are your <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">movies<\/a> that center gay characters with gay actors? They don\u2019t exist. I\u2019ve heard stories. I mean, they\u2019re rumors, but I know they\u2019re true, about actors who were considered [for a major movie franchise] who weren\u2019t \u201cout\u201d actors. Even though they were closeted, they couldn\u2019t even be considered, because someone was worried that they might come out, at some point. That\u2019s not 40 years ago. This is within the past 10, 15, 20 years. So that fear is still very much lingering. What I\u2019m trying to do in my career, in general, is\u2026look, like I said, I\u2019ve always been out. I respect everyone\u2019s journey. It\u2019s a complicated thing, to come to Hollywood, as a gay man, and an actor, and decide whether to be out or not. For me, it was never that complicated.<\/p>\n<p>I made a decision early on, right after I graduated college, that I was going to be out. I didn\u2019t want to live any other way. It just sounded miserable to me, but there is a sacrifice that comes with that, and what I am trying to do is show that that sacrifice, it\u2019s bullsh*t. That shouldn\u2019t exist. It shouldn\u2019t be considered a sacrifice. We should all be on the same lists, together.<\/p>\n<p>You know, a straight actor, who is on a list\u2026whenever there\u2019s a gay character \u2026 I\u2019m doing this rom-com, about a gay male couple that I wrote, and I\u2019m starring in for Universal, that Judd Apatow is producing. Nick Stoller and I co-wrote it. We were just about to shoot it, when COVID hit. Hopefully, we\u2019ll shoot it next year, but I\u2019m an EP on that and heavily involved in all ways. So, I was privy to casting discussions, and I would see when the casting lists were circulating, about which actors to call in for which role. There were so many straight actors, on every list, to play gay characters. And then, at the beginning, before I raised my voice, for the straight characters in the movie, there were never gay actors on the lists for those roles. I saw it with my own eyes. It\u2019s not a two-way street.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m trying to change that, and I also think it\u2019s so important for us to be able to tell our own stories, because we have the lived-in experience, to bring the intellectual nuance of it to the screen. I don\u2019t have to go sit with 30 gay people and try to find out what it\u2019s like to be gay. I know, and no one knows better than me, and my friends. I think we need to stop undervaluing that, the feeling that if a gay person plays a gay person, it\u2019s not acting, but if a straight person plays a gay person, we give them an Oscar.\n            <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Entertainment <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>if you want to watch Movies or Tv Shows go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/dizi.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dizi.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a> <\/span> for forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2020\/07\/21\/billy-eichner-to-play-paul-lynde-in-man-in-the-box-biopic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Billy Eichner to play Paul Lynde in \u2018Man in the Box\u2019 biopic&#8221; EXCLUSIVE: Actor-comedian Billy Eichner and producer Tom McNulty are developing \u201cMan in the Box,\u201d a biopic based on the life of groundbreaking TV icon Paul Lynde. Eichner plans to star. They\u2019ve optioned a script by Edwin Cannistraci, and Eichner and McNulty are currently&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[42118],"class_list":["post-31716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-billy-eichner-to-play-paul-lynde-in-man-in-the-box-biopic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}