Getting a project about the latter days of writer and queer iconoclast Oscar Wilde to the screen was a labor of love for Rupert Everett, who wrote, directed, and stars in The Happy Prince. The film, which premiered at Sundance and opens in theaters on October 5, takes a sad, swooning look at the (literal) trials and travails of the celebrated wit, revered now but persecuted in his time. Vanity Fair has the exclusive first trailer for the film.
Everetts deeply committed performance takes center stage, of course, but hes joined by a rogues gallery of British acting luminaries, including Colin Firth as Wildes devoted friend Reggie Turner, Emily Watson as Wildes long-suffering wife, and Tom Wilkinson as a priest ministering to Wilde in his final days. Perhaps most germane to our interests, though, is the dashingly handsome Colin Morgan, who plays Alfred Bosie Douglas, Wildes younger, bon vivant lover for a time. (Fantasy fans may recognize Morgan as Merlin from the long-running series of the same name.) With its sterling cast and period-piece biopic heft, The Happy Prince could be a dark horse in this years Oscar race, particularly for Everetts fully felt performance.
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