Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor
star in the mature coming out gay film Beginners, which
opens in select cities on June 3.
It is the first time playing a gay
character for the 81-year-old Plummer.
In the film, Oliver (played by
McGregor) tells the story of his father, Hal (Plummer), trying to
catch up on lost time after coming out gay at the age of 75. Hal
begins to openly embrace his sexuality by socializing with other gay
men and dating a man about the same age as his son (Goran Visnjic).
Hal is also attempting to reconnect
with his son after being told he's terminally ill. (The video is
embedded in the right panel of this page.)
Plummer told People magazine
that Hal's coming out appealed to him.
“The joy he has in coming out of the
closet is so appealing to me. There's no shame to it – it frees
him. It gives you such hope that you can feel happy about the end of
your life rather than feel sorry for yourself,” he said.
Focus Features, the company that
brought us Milk and The Kids Are All Right, acquired
Beginners at its premiere last year at the Toronto
International Film Festival. The
company recently acquired worldwide distribution rights to the
lesbian teen drama Pariah,
which premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival.