In Truman & Tennessee: An
Intimate Conversation, Jim Parsons and Zachary Quinto give voice
to two of the greatest writers of the past century.
The documentary examines the lives of
Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams, both of whom catapulted to fame
in the 1950s and were open about being gay.
“They lived parallel lives and
struggled with a lifelong pursuit of creativity, self-doubt,
addiction, and success,” the film's description reads.
Filmmaker Lisa Immordino Vreeland
stitches together interviews that the two literary giants gave to
chart their lives. Following years of alcohol abuse, Capote died in
1984, while Williams died two years after he overdosed on
barbiturates in 1981.
Parsons, who came out in 2012, voices
Capote, and Quinto, who came out in 2011, voices Williams.
Speaking with UK LGBT glossy Attitude,
Parsons said that he was fascinated by how the men were affected by
their sexuality.
“It fascinates me, and it fascinates
me [how] being gay in that time affected their work and their art,”
he said.
Quinto said that the men faced a
“unique pressure.”
“I do think that Truman and Tennessee
among some of their other contemporaries were bearing a certain kind
of burden for society, where their sexuality was an unspoken but
undeniable part of their personas and who they were,” he said. “And
so I do think there comes a unique pressure with that, at that time
in particular."
The film is currently screening in the
UK.