Joel Edgerton‘s Boy Erased is hitting audiences with one of the most unique ensemble casts ever conceived. Singer-songwriter Troye Sivan, Red Hot Chili Peppers musician Michael “Flea” Balzary, Emmy-winner Cherry Jones, and filmmaker Xavier Dolan (yes, him!) are all joining the already all-star cast.
Already set are Oscar-nominee Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea), Oscar winners Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, as well as director Joel Edgerton himself. The story revolves around Jared (Hedges), a gay teen who is son to a Baptist pastor in a small American town. Jared is outed to the church by his parents (Kidman, Crowe) and is forced to either be shunned by his family and community or attend a gay conversion camp, headed by a strict pastor (Edgerton). Jared will face the struggles of finding himself and coming to terms with his family while being challenged to his very core and identity.
Sivan has come up in the business with a few small movie roles, including playing James in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but Boy Erased will be his first major film outing since 2009 after taking off with his music career and a hit album Blue Neighborhood. Flea recently appeared in Baby Driver, and has done a lot of voice work, including 2015’s Inside Out. Jones has worked primarily in television lately on such shows as Transparent and American Crime. Dolan, although an actor as well as a filmmaker (Tom at the Farm), will be hitting theaters soon enough with his English language directorial debut The Death and Life of John F. Donovan.
Boy Erased begins production this fall with a projected 2018 theatrical release.