When he accepted his Best Play Tony Award this spring for RED, I thought- “hmmm… what a little Irish type hottie, & talented to boot. I wonder if he is family? Am I wrong or does this guy seem gay”, which makes sense at the Tonys, but John Logan is also the screenwriter responsible for such butch work as: Any Given Sunday, Gladiator, The Last Samurai, Aviator… oh, there is a tip off after all- Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.
Logan: "I would much rather go see the new Stephen Sondheim show than go to a football game anymore. The 1st movie I wrote- Any Given Sunday, is about football players, the most he-man demimonde you can explore. I would walk into meetings with studio executives, & their jaws would drop about the fact that I'm clearly not a he-man, I make no bones about being anything but gay, & my personal interests are sort of arty.”
Logan & his partner of 19 years- Marty Madden, live in Malibu. Logan: “The reason I am successful today is due to his support. When we met I was a starving playwright. He supported me for years, with absolute faith that it would all work out. The nature of our relationship is the 2 of us together, walking our dogs, having dinner, or sitting on the sofa watching TV. We so rarely do things like get dressed up & go out to ceremonies like the Academy Awards, that it's really fun. It's like a really cool date with Marty.”
Logan on being out: “In American history there's been nothing but tragedy to come from anyone being ashamed of who they are or denying who they are for any reason whatsoever. If I were a movie star, where my career would be ruined if I came out of the closet, maybe I would feel some justification for hiding, but I don't think so. I know people who are in the closet & it is killing them. Any human being who denies the central aspect of who they are, which is love, is not going to be a happy person.
I think it is of paramount importance that anyone in the public eye who has done anything of note that might get respect in, say, Georgia or Texas, stand up & say, ‘This is who I am. & I still wrote The Aviator, & I still worked on Gladiator, & I still worked on The Last Samurai, & I still worked on Any Given Sunday. & I'm still working. & no one I work with has a problem with that’."
Logan has written 14 plays including: Never the Sinner, Hauptmann: Speaking in Tongues, Scorched Earth, & Riverview. His new adaptation of Ibsen's The Master Builder appeared on the West End in 2003. He is a member of the Victory Gardens Theatre Playwright Ensemble. Logan's work as a screenwriter includes Sweeney Todd (Golden Globe award), The Aviator (Oscar, Golden Globe & WGA nominations); Gladiator (Oscar, Golden Globe & WGA nominations), The Last Samurai, Any Given Sunday, & RKO 281 (WGA award, Emmy nomination).
About RED:
Master American expressionist Mark Rothko has just landed the biggest commission in the history of modern art, a series of murals for New York’s famed Four Seasons Restaurant. In the two fascinating years that follow, Rothko works feverishly with his young assistant, Ken, in his studio on the Bowery. But when Ken gains the confidence to challenge him, Rothko faces the agonizing possibility that his crowning achievement could also become his undoing.
Next up- The Miraculous Year, an HBO series created, written & executive produced by John Logan. Kathryn Bigelow, Best Director Oscar winner for The Hurt Locker will direct. The series is a character driven, contemporary look at the arenas of art & theater: "an examination of a New York family as seen through the lens of a charismatic, self destructive Broadway composer." I hope I am being considered for the lead. John Logan is quite the little underachiever.
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