Jim Parsons: Michael Ausiello’s Choice for the Film Adaptation of ‘Spoiler Alert’ – ‘I Had Total Control Over the Casting of Jim’
When journalist Michael Ausiello’s memoir “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies” was optioned for a movie, there was never any question that The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons would play him.
Spoiler Alert, a film starring Parsons, Ben Aldridge, and Sally Field, is the true story of Ausiello and his husband Kit Cowan’s love story, which takes a heartbreaking turn when Cowan is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Ausiello recently why he felt confident having Parsons in the role. Plus he shared what concerned him the most when he knew his book would become a film.
Jim Parsons: From ‘Big Bang Theory’ to Playing Michael Ausiello in ‘Spoiler Alert’
Ausiello said Jim Parsons was always part of the deal once the book was optioned for the movie. “Well, I had the decision of who I wanted to give the option of this book to. And I knew that part of the package deal with Jim was that he would play me,” he said on the Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast. “So basically I had total control over the casting of Jim. Because it was my decision to get into business with him and take this journey with him.”
“So I knew going in that he would play me and I was on board with that right out of the gate,” he added. “I didn’t have an idea in my head like, ‘This is who I would wanna play me in a movie of my life.’ Even when this movie became a real thing. I didn’t really have thoughts of that.”
“But I had so much respect for Jim. And I was excited to see what new things Jim would be would bring to this, this role,” Ausiello said. “Like I never imagined or thought or wanted him to like do an impersonation of me. Or mimic me or anything like that. I was excited to see his own version of Michael. And I was constantly surprised at the choices and decisions he made in the places he took the character.”
Michael Ausiello’s Story: Releasing Control and Taking on Jim Parsons
But certain aspects of turning his beloved book into a movie were challenging for Ausiello. “I’ve had total control over this story up until now,” he pointed out. “Now I need to relinquish some of that control. Even though I will be involved, there are now other people in the mix who are gonna have their own ideas and I will be one of those voices, but I won’t be the only voice.”
“And that was hard,” he admitted. “And really that was the one thing that gave me the most pause before heading on this journey was, could I do that? Would I be willing to do that?”
“Luckily, it wasn’t that hard to trust someone like Jim Parsons and Michael Showalter, people who I have enormous respect for,” he said. “And also people who told me right out of the gate that they very much valued my contributions and wanted me to be involved. And saw me as an asset throughout this production and not a liability I always felt included, in the process. So that made it seem less scary.”
Michael was also a ‘Big Bang Theory’ fan
He was also a Big Bang Theory fan. “I covered it religiously on TV Line and at Entertainment Weekly before that,” Ausiello said.
“That’s how I met Jim was covering Big Bang Theory and, interviewing him repeatedly,” he added. “And we developed a really fun rapport during those interviews and that sort of led me to asking him to moderate the Q and A at Barnes and Noble the week my book came out.”
