Michael Easton (6/91 Monty)
Excerpt from Soap Opera Digest 6/91: Michael Easton, on ME Corner | Monty
Michael Easton (Tanner Scofield, DAYS OF OUR LIVES)
His Professional Goal: "I want to make my own film, kind of what Kevin Costner did. Just to have one time where you get to make your own vision on film. I would be really content to do that."
© Soap Opera Digest
Daytime TV's Greatest Stories 10/3/91: Michael Easton, on ME Corner *similar article at Daytime Soap Stars 2/92 "The Ambitious One"
Michael Easton May Be the Next Kevin Costner
Michael Easton is a very complex guy. He's a talented actor, and he's more than happy playing Tanner Scofield on Days, but he also knows where he's heading in life. His one big dream is to write, direct and star in his own movie. Right now, he's in the middle of writing his first screenplay, on the life of Montgomery Cliff. At the age of twelve, when Michael saw Montgomery in A Place in the Sun, he knew he wanted to be an actor, too. He's reached that goal at a young age, and there's no doubt that we'll see a movie written, directed, and starring Michael Easton, on the big screen, in the near future!
....
What do you do when you're not working?
Michael: I'm working on a screenplay, right now. I have had one goal since I got into this business, and that is to do a film that is my vision. All I want is one shot at it, like Kevin Costner had with Dances with Wolves. So, I am writing this script, it's not of that magnitude, but I would like to do this one thing my way. If I got that one shot, I would be content.
Tell me about the screenplay.
Michael: It's actually about Montgomery Cliff, the actor. I have read lots of books about him. When I was twelve, I used to have trouble sleeping, so I'd stay up at night and watch old movies. There were three actors and movies that I saw that made me want to be an actor. One was Montgomery Cliff in A Place in the Sun, and the other two were James Dean in east of Eden and Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront. I started reading up on Montgomery Cliff, and he led such a strange life. My screenplay is more than the story of his life, it's about what being in this business and being an actor can do to you. I would really like to do it, and do it by myself!
© Daytime TV's Greatest Stories
Variety 8/19/97: Michael Easton | on Synchronicity
Hopkins to helm Clift biopic for Newman/Tooley
Tuesday August 19, 1997 By Paul Karon
Billy Hopkins, best known as a casting director for such feature films as “The Rock and “Nixon,” has signed on to direct “Monty,” an indie production telling the story of the life of thesp Montgomery Clift. Hopkins has extensive Off Broadway theater directing credits and recently helmed his first feature, “I Love You, I Love You Not,” starring Jeanne Moreau and Claire Danes, to be released this fall by Miramax. The screenplay follows Clift’s life from the start of his Hollywood career in 1947 to his death in 1966, and will involve his contemporaries, such as Frank Sinatra, John Wayne and Elizabeth Taylor. Producers Vincent Newman and Tucker Tooley, principals of Newman/Tooley Films, acquired the “Monty” script in June. “Now our priority is to find a toplist actor to play the Monty role,” Newman said, but he declined to name which actors are being offered the role. The pic will have a budget of $7 million to $10 million, he said.
First-time writer Michael Easton penned the original script. Easton is himself an actor, who appears in the syndicated cable series “Two,” about twins, and is now starring in Fox TV’s new Damon Wayans project, “413 Hope St.” “I’ve read other material about Montgomery Clift, but I feel Michael’s script succeeds best dramatically, as well as affording proper reverence to Monty’s incredible talent and the impact he’s made on virtually every real actor since his time,” Hopkins said.
Clift, who was 45 when he died, starred in such landmark films as “A Place in the Sun,” “From Here to Eternity,” “Giant,” “The Misfits” and “Red River.” He was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for a stunning single-scene performance in “Judgment at Nuremberg.”
© Variety
Excerpt from Prodigy 9/17/97: Michael Easton, on Synchronicity
Transcript of the Prodigy Chat with Michael Easton
September 17, 1997 22.00 EDT
FredsHotStuf (Prodigy Member) Did you have to do a lot of research for your screenplay on Montgomery Clift?
Michael Easton (Speaker) I read every book that was written--6 of them--over 100 articles in newspapers and magazines. I spoke with 20 people who worked with him. It was four years of research. The script is in the casting stages right now. Billy Hopkins will direct it. He's a big Clift fan. His passion seemed perfect for it. Now we're just looking for the right person to play Monty. It will not be me. I think sometimes you do what's right for the film. It would be nice to make the best film and be so indulgent that I have to play the part--I'm a little young to play it--maybe someone in their late 30s.
FredsHotStuf (Prodigy Member) What kind of person was Montgomery Clift?
Michael Easton (Speaker) Why did I want to write a movie about him? I used to stay up late watching old movies, and when I was 12, I watched "A Place in the Sun," and his performance motivated me to become an actor. He led a very unusual, bizarre life, and it sort of summed up what it was like to spend time in this community.
FredsHotStuf (Prodigy Member) Is it true that Elizabeth Taylor was in love with him and he rejected her?
Michael Easton (Speaker) Absolutely. She was very much in love with him...Marilyn Monroe was in love with him too. But he was bisexual and had a difficult time coming to terms with relationships. Liz is a big part of the screenplay, because she and Monty were friends for over 20 years.
Moderator (Speaker) Sounds like a great story... We'll be looking for that one!
....
Moderator (Speaker) ....In addition, Easton's screenplay, "Monty" (about the life and times of Montgomery Clift), was recently optioned and is scheduled to begin production next month. Billy Hopkins ("The Rock," "Nixon") is set to direct...
....
swimguy (Prodigy Member) You're apparently a big Montgomery Clift fan--how come, and what was your favorite Clift film?
Michael Easton (Speaker) Favorite: "From Here to Eternity" or "A Place in the Sun."
© Prodigy
Excerpt from Soap Opera News 9/23/97: Michael Easton, on Synchronicity
Easton Exposure: Former DAYS heartthrob Michael Easton puts his career hopes on Hope Street
By Jeffrey Epstein
Stretching his creative wings, Easton recently wrote a script, Monty, about the late movie star Montgomery Clift. But he won't land the title role -- the producers are eyeing some of Hollywood's biggest names to play Clift. "They're looking at Ralph Fiennes," Easton says hopefully.
While he misses New York, "You go where the work is," Easton acknowledges. And at the moment, his only major attachment is his dog, Boutros -- named for former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. "I'm just cruising through right now," he grins. "I'm just hanging out."
© Soap Opera News
Excerpt from The Daily News 12/3/97: Michael Easton
LIFE STORY OF MONTGOMERY CLIFT READY TO ROLL IN 1998.
Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith
``Monty,'' the life story of the late, Oscar-winning actor Montgomery Clift, heads before the big-screen cameras next year. It will be directed by Billy Hopkins, who helmed ``I Love You, I Love You Not'' with Claire Danes and Jude Law, reports actor Michael Easton. Easton, who co-stars in the series ``413 Hope Street,'' penned ``Monty'' and will co-produce the biopic. ``We're in pre-production now, and an offer's out to a big-name actor to play Clift,'' he says.
``Monty'' will explore the troubled actor's struggles with drug and alcohol abuse and, says Easton, the film won't skirt around the issue of Clift's reported bisexuality. ``It would be hard to do a story on Montgomery Clift and try to say he was heterosexual,'' says Easton, who spent two years researching Clift's life story. ``He believed the only way to be honest in your work was to be honest in your life, but he wasn't able to do that professionally or personally - that certainly was one of the demons that had much to do with his alcoholism. But the film's more about a lot of the great friendships he had. Marlon Brando came to him in the very end, when Monty was run down, and offered to go through AA with him. And, of course, Elizabeth Taylor was a great friend to him.''
Easton says they're targeting ``Monty'' shooting for March. Meanwhile, Fox is giving his ``413 Hope Street'' series another chance to find its audience. The show returns to the air Thursday night for six episodes. And Easton is also going to pop up in a two-part guest shot on ``Ally McBeal'' as the leading lady lawyer's love interest.
© Daily News
Entertainment Weekly 5/10/00: Michael Easton
Production Values Plus, David Bowie, Eminem, Mick Jagger, Wes Bentley, Cameron Diaz, Tom Hanks, and more
By Sandra P. Angulo on May 10, 2000
ALL BIOS, ALL THE TIME Wes Bentley (''American Beauty'') will play actor Montgomery Clift in the low budget film ''Monty,'' which casting director-turned-filmmaker Billy Hopkins will direct in spring 2001. The drama follows Clift's career from 1947 until his death in 1966.
© Entertainment Weekly
Excerpt from Screen Daily 10/29/00: Michael Easton
Nippon Herald takes Intermedia trio for Japan
29 October, 2000 | By Mike Goodridge
In addition, Intermedia revealed it would be financing and handling worldwide sales duties on Monty, a project which Intermedia's new president of worldwide distribution and acquisitions Jere Hausfater was planning to back in his previous incarnation at Buena Vista Film Sales. Wes Bentley, the star of American Beauty and United Artists' forthcoming The Claim, and Rachel Leigh Cook, whose credits include She's All That and Get Carter, will star in the film being directed by Billy Hopkins, whose sole prior credit is I Love You, I Love You Not starring Clare Danes and Jude Law. Produced by Newman/Tooley Films and written by Michael Easton, the film follows Clift's life from the start of his Hollywood career in 1947 to his death in 1966 and features many of Clift's contemporaries including Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando and John Wayne. Vincent Newman and Tucker Tooley will produce the film with Lee Daniels, who is Bentley's manager.
© Screen Daily
Excerpt from The Guardian 2/16/01: Michael Easton
Zeta-Jones to play Liz Taylor in Clift biopic
theguardian.com, Friday 16 February 2001 06.48 EST
Catherine Zeta-Jones is set to play Elizabeth Taylor in a biopic about her friend and co-star, Montgomery Clift. According to ITN, the as-yet nameless film is expected to go into production later this year. Clift, one of the top Hollywood stars of the 1950s, earned his first best actor Oscar nomination as a young soldier in The Search. Extremely handsome, he was daring in his choice of roles, turning down, among others, Sunset Boulevard and On the Waterfront. His greatest successes include A Place in the Sun (in which he starred with Taylor) and From Here to Eternity, which also earned him Oscar nominations. In 1957, Clift was involved in a car accident which left him permanently scarred. Taylor was reportedly one of the first people to rush to his aid at the scene of the crash. Although he continued acting, appearing in such well remembered films as The Misfits and Suddenly, Last Summer, in which he again co-starred with Taylor, his career never hit the peaks it once had. He died aged just 46.
© The Guardian
Variety 10/30/03: Michael Easton
Foley shifts to Clift pic: Screenplay written by actor-turned-scribe Easton
By DANA HARRIS
"Confidence" director James Foley has signed on to direct a biopic about thesp Montgomery Clift. Written by actor-turned-scribe Michael Easton, the screenplay follows Clift's life through his Hollywood career to his death in 1966, a journey that included addiction, struggles with sexual identity and a car crash that robbed him of his leading-man looks. Vince Newman and Tucker Tooley's Newman/Tooley Films will produce the pic. Newman/Tooley most recently produced "A Man Apart" for New Line Cinema and the upcoming "Blind Horizon" for Lions Gate Films. Their next film, Pierce Brosnan starrer "Mexicali," is expected to begin production for MGM early next year. Foley's credits also include "Glengarry Glen Ross" and "At Close Range."
© Variety
Digital Spy 11/13/03: Michael Easton
Farrell "to play Montgomery Clint"
By Neil Wilkes Thursday, Nov 13 2003, 1:01pm EST
Colin Farrell is being lined up to play legendary Hollywood actor Montgomery Clift in a biopic about his life, according to reports. Director James Foley is planning the movie and is said to be "certain" that bad boy Farrell is the man for the role.
© Digital Spy
Deadline 9/18/13: Michael Easton
Matt Bomer to play Montgomery Clift in biopic
By Billy Nilles September 19, 2013 2:30 AM ET
Matt Bomer may have been passed over for the lead role of Christian Grey in the upcoming film adaptation of "Fifty Shades of Grey," but he's not hurting for prestige roles: The "White Collar" actor is set to play Montgomery Clift in a biopic centered on the Hollywood star. Deadline reports that the indie biopic, being shopped by Pier 3 Pictures' Michael Din, Janine Giaime and Juri Henley-Cohn, will be directed by Larry Moss from a script by Christopher Lovick. The plan is to aim for a 2014 start date.
© Zap 2 It