Examining the experience of a character who is lost in a world he no longer recognizes, the film was conceived as a “love letter” to gay culture of the past that is rapidly disappearing in America.
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While mostly light and full of comedic moments, Swan Song did have a bittersweet concern at its center, for Stephens. “While I was there, I became the person, as close as I could get from the information.” I just automatically loved Sandusky.”Īs Kier prepared for his portrayal of Pat, he kept in mind a motto he’d taken from his collaborations with Lars von Tier: “Don’t act.” It’s like going back to the ’50s or something,” Evans said. “You know, you hope that there are places like this in the world, where you show up and everyone’s real, and everyone cares. But like Kier, she immediately fell in love with Stephens’ hometown, when she first ventured to it, which only added to the quality of her experience. Perhaps best known for her turn as Dynasty’s Krystle Carrington, which earned her a Golden Globe and five total nominations, Evans hadn’t acted much in the years leading up to this project, so there was a bit of hesitation about returning to the screen. “Todd wrote such a powerful script that had so much heart in it.” Because of his passion for this, I knew he was going to make this into a little jewel,” she said. “When I talked to Todd, it was a done deal. When Evans read the script for Swan Song, she too sensed the special nature of the project. “But this film was a low-budget film, and everybody was very normal. I mean, sometimes, you also like movies where you have a trailer, and people guide you every moment, where you go,” the actor admitted. Naturally, then, he was immediately compelled by the script in front of him. Subsequently, he’s called to style the final hairdo for his longtime client, Rita Parker Sloan (Evans), who has recently passed away, and he confronts the ghosts of his past, as he sets out on a remarkable journey through Sandusky.Ĭoming off of Bacurau and The Painted Bird-“two great films” in which he’d been tasked with playing “the evil guy”-Kier couldn’t have been approached with a more different kind of character than Pat. “But I always knew that I wanted to make a film about him,” he said-and so he did.Īlso starring Jennifer Coolidge and Michael Urie, Stephens’ fourth feature picks up with Pat (Kier) at a point where he’s given up on life, as a retiree confined to a small-town nursing home. Not long after his aforementioned encounter, he relocated to New York. Unfortunately, Stephens never had the opportunity to get to know Pitsenbarger well. So, he was kind of like my spirit animal.” “I like to say that he gave me the courage to be me, and be different, because I felt like I never fit in, either. “ I got up the nerve to go…I saw something sparkling and shimmering on the dance floor, and I turned, and there was the same man, wearing this outrageous pantsuit. Becoming “obsessed” with the mysterious Pat over the years, Stephens encountered him most closely at age 17, when we walked into local gay bar, The Universal Fruit and Nut Company, for the first time.