Justin Kelly and I first met in 2008 when I was sent to Los Angeles to interview Gus Van Sant. I breezed into the screening room where Van Sant was viewing a rough cut of his film Milk, and promptly tripped over the film-maker’s Australian shepherd Milo, who was snoozing in the dark. Kelly was minding the dog that morning, so in some small but unshakable way I will always blame him for my spectacular stumble.
Kelly was the editorial assistant on Milk, which starred Sean Penn as the assassinated San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, and James Franco as his lover. Kelly then went on to direct Franco on two occasions as gay characters based on real people: activist Michael Glatze, who renounces his former life after finding religion in I Am Michael; and the escort, porn producer and convicted murderer Joe Kerekes in King Cobra. Consequently, Kelly has had a ringside seat for the whole “queerbait” argument over whether straight or apparently straight actors should play LGBTQ+ roles.
