June 9, 2023 | Arts / Entertainment

New doc explores life of Rock Hudson

Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed is a new documentary that juxtaposes the actor's Hollywood persona with the reality of his private life. It also explores how he became the new face of the AIDS epidemic in 1985, when he became one of the best-known public figures to reveal an HIV diagnosis.

In the film, Hudson is described as “the last of those manufactured stars, where every aspect of what we think to be their private life has been built by other people.”

But in reality, he was embracing his gay side

“He was having this kind of great rampant, randy gay sex life right there under everyone’s noses, but seemingly living without a care," explained filmmaker Stephen Kijak. "There wasn’t the kind of angsty, oh-I-wish-I-could-just-be-an-out-gay-man. It was a generation that I don’t think considered that to be an option, or even something that they would want.

“I’m not going to name names,” he added, “but you know there’s a handful of Rock Hudsons out there right now who have to be even more careful given the fact that everyone has a little camera in their phone.”

Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed, will premiere later this week at the Tribeca Film Festival. It will be released June 28 on HBO.