Jim Parsons, Ben Aldrich on Why Spoiler Alert’s Gay Love Story Is Universal
At a time of increased visibility for queer couples in holiday romantic comedies, the Jim Parsons and Ben Aldrich-led Spoiler Alert, from Focus Features, delves into relatable epic love and eventual loss.
The film, based on TVLine founder Michael Ausiello’s memoir Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies, about his husband’s death from cancer, is a universal story of love and loss with a gay couple at its center.The Boys in the Band’s Parsons plays Ausiello in the film while Aldrich (Pennyworth, Fleabag) stars as his husband, Kit Cowan, who is diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer.
Oscar-winner Sally Field plays Kit’s mother while Tony-winner Bill Irwin stars as his dad. “What appealed to me when I first read it is that I felt like I hadn't seen or read something myself, where the love and the relationship element of a queer story…was at the center of the film.
It wasn't about shame. It wasn't about discrimination. It was about their relationship, and all facets of the relationship as well, not just the kind of romantic comedic joyful elements that,” Aldrich tells The Advocate. “They really whether they weather the storm together, and it's about what life and time and does to a relationship.
