Ryan Kwanten is most famous here and in the US for playing goofball horndog Jason Stackhouse on True Blood, a man not exactly known for his murderous tendencies (though he has killed one person on the show to defend a friend), but now he’s getting ready to portray Charles Manson in writer Scott Kosar’sThe Family.
Kosar is best known for writing The Machinist, which saw Christian Bale lose some serious weight to play a paranoid factory worker and Brad Anderson directing. For this film, however, Kosar is taking the reins himself. "I will be making my directorial debut from a script I wrote,” he tells Shock ‘Till You Drop.
He’s also adamant this isn’t some exploitative schlocker even though it’ll heavily feature one of America’s most notorious figures. “The movie won't focus on the Manson murders. Nor is it a Manson biopic. It's a family biopic. A movie about a surrogate family of wayward teenagers who, through extraordinary circumstances, came together and were transformed into the most notorious American family of the 20th century. A very unconventional unit, but a family nonetheless. It is not a horror film, though the subject is inherently horrific. The goal is to do, finally, after forty years, the first authentic film about the so-called Manson Family.”
Yes, he’s aiming to make something very different. “Unlike other films on the subject, The Family will also spend time getting to know the victims, particularly Sharon Tate, who will be portrayed very sympathetically. I don't think a responsible movie can be made about this subject without humanizing the victims, which must be done in order to truly convey, as much as a film is able to, the enormity of the tragedy. This won't be a slasher film, but it won't gloss over the violence either.” Hmmm... Can't help thinking that controversy will swirl around it anyway.
Kosar has been researching and crafting the script for some time now, and hopes to start shooting next year. Kwanten’s involvement, meanwhile, was first reported over at The Wrap. And while he may not seem like the obvious choice, he at least voiced a bad guy in Legend of the Guardians, so that's a start.