who played sebastian? - Suddenly, Last Summer Discussion

[–] jugl11 19 years ago

It was Montgomery Clift

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It definitely wasn't Monty Clift. It was another (unknown?) actor. This can be seen from various publicity stills that were released. One can be seen in Vito Russo's "Celluloid Closet". Sorry, don't know his name, though.

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[–] drednm 19 years ago

the stills were fakes..... It was Clift.... watch the way he moves..... and there were many references to his doctor character looking like Sebastian.....

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Mr_Wentworth-Brewster 19 years ago

TWhy would they fake the stills? This doesn't make any sense to me. I understand there were some philosophical reasons for not showing his face, but then again I don't even get why they didn't mention it in closing credits. The actor playing Sebastian is credited as "uncredited actor" in the video montage on the DVD.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] ijonesiii 18 years ago

Clift played the doctor, not Sebastian. If memory serves, we never see a full facial shot of Sebastian so it's not likely that a "name" actor played the part.

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[–] RieRie555 18 years ago

It was DEFINITELY NOT Montgomery playing Sebastion. Look at the actor's hands - they are completely different, the fingers much longer and even a little crooked. The actor playing him was probably instructed to imitate Clift's body language to make the similarities more apparent. If you can get your hands on the DVD, there is a picture montage in the special features in which a few pics of the unknown actor can be found.

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[–] jlindholm2000 18 years ago

This is what Wikipedia says for 'Suddenly Last Summer',

Gore Vidal reports in the Celluloid Closet book and subsequent documentary that the censors of the day, epsecially the Legion of Decency forced him to edit much of the diolgue so that the homosexual theme is only implied, and that the actual homosexual character does not have a face or a voice in the film.

So while the play had a Sebastian, Vidal was forced to remove this character from the movie.
Funny, I came to this site from Wikipedia/Suddenly Last Summer listing. Interesting that this is the first discussion listed.
Jane

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[–] Cutelittlewashu2 18 years ago

I think this might be the guy who played Sebastian (although there is no name mentioned -- I found the image in the gallery for this movie). If it is him, it clarifies the matter of whether it's Montgomery Clift or not(which it's not):

http://imdb.com/gallery/mptv/1186/Mptv/1186/0712-0064.jpg?path=gallery&path_key=0053318

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[–] cmrosti 17 years ago

I watched a DVD of this film which included some bonus material. They show the the man who played Sebastian (even though you never see his face in the movie) and say he was not credited. I don't remember his name, but I had never heard of him.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] gayspiritwarrior 17 years ago

The rules of the academy were (are?) such that an actor with no lines doesn't have to be credited. The guy who "played" Sebastian was little more than an extra, and I'd be surprised if he got anything more than Screen Extras Guild wages.

"The value of an idea has nothing to do with the honesty of the man expressing it."--Oscar Wilde

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[–] singjohn 8 years ago

I believe that picture #29 in the photos section here is the man that played Sebastian.