Lewis Pullman would 'love' to replace Joaquin Phoenix in Todd Haynes explicit gay romance

Salem's Lot star Lewis Pullman says that if Joaquin Phoenix doesn't want to star in Todd Haynes' shelved explicit gay romance, he'd love to do it!

Just five days before filming was set to start on Haynes untitled queer period piece, the Joker actor abruptly backed out of the project, killing the film because financing hinged on the Phoenix's casting.

The film was meant to be a period piece set in the 1930s about a Native American man and a corrupt police officer becoming lovers and fleeing from Los Angeles to Mexico and would have seen Phoenix and actor Danny Ramirez playing lovers.

When it was suggested to Pullman, who starred alongside Ramirez in Top Gun: Maverick, that he should reach out to his former co-star about picking the project back up and casting him in Phoenix's role, he was excited by the idea.

"I would love to get that call," Pullman said in an interview with Variety. "It's a brilliant idea. I'm here. I'm here. I'm ready."

Phoenix's exit was especially surprising, considering he was heavily involved in championing the film and was very involved in the development of the script. Both Haynes and Phoenix — who would have been playing his first gay role — wanted to push boundaries and make the gay sex scenes as explicit as possible.

"Joaquin was pushing me further and going 'No, let's go further.' This will be an NC-17 film," Haynes told Indie Wire last year.

Pullman isn’t the only star who has put their name forward as a possible replacement star. Bisexual AEW hunk Anthony Bowens has also said he’d jump at the chance to act in the spicy movie.

The fact that we almost got a very explicit gay romance with 1930s costumes before it was unceremoniously ripped away from us is heartbreaking, but we'd love to see it revived with Ramirez and Pullman in the steamy sex scenes!