Leonardo DiCaprio, Joaquin Phoenix To Play Gay Lovers In Hoover Pic?

PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 22, 2010

New York Magazine is reporting that legendary actor-director Clinton
 Eastwood is pursing Joaquin Phoenix to play FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's
alleged lover in an upcoming biopic.

Leonardo DiCaprio has said he is considering playing the film's lead.

If true, Phoenix would play the role of Clyde Tolson, Hoover's alleged lover.
 The two men worked closely – Tolson landed the plum post of associate
 director after only 3 years at the agency – and socialized together, but vehemently denied claims they were in a romantic relationship. Tolson
inherited Hoover's estate and his grave rests yards from Hoover's in the Congressional Cemetery.

Other evidence that Hoover was gay includes the fact that many of his
closest friends were closeted men. Rumors that Hoover was a crossdresser
 persist to this day.

Speaking to reporters in June, DiCaprio said the film was about the
“secret life” of Hoover, such as his involvement in the Vietnam war,
and the lives of Martin Luther King and President John F. Kennedy.

When asked if he'll be wearing a dress, DiCaprio answered: “Not as of yet.
 No, we haven't done the fitting for those. So, I don't think so.”

The screenplay is being written by openly gay screenwriter Dustin Lance
 Black, who won a 2008 Oscar for Milk, the Gus Van Sant biopic about
 Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician to be elected in the United States.

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF