The queer-themed coming-of-age drama “Call Me By Your Name” drew critical raves after its Sundance Film Festival premiere in January, garnering early Oscar buzz for stars Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet.
One person who isn’t buying into the buzz, however, is James Woods. The 70-year-old actor, who is known for his conservative views, blasted the film for its portrayal of a romantic relationship between a 24-year-old academic (Hammer) and a 17-year-old American expat (Chalamet) living in Italy.
Woods hashtagged the tweet #NAMBLA, an acronym for the North American Man/Boy Love Association, an organization that has spoken out against age-of-consent laws and supported incarcerated individuals who identify as “boy lovers.”
But Hammer, 30, wasn’t having any of it, and shot back:
As it turns out, the star of “The Lone Ranger” and “The Social Network,” who is married to Elizabeth Chambers, wasn’t far off. When Woods was 59, he was romantically linked to 19-year-old Ashley Madison. In 2013, at the age of 66, he dated Kristen Bauguess, who was then 20.
“Joan of Arcadia” star Amber Tamblyn responded to Hammer’s tweet with an eyebrow-raising claim of her own about Woods.
Fortunately, it doesn’t seem as if Hammer will be needing Woods’ approval. “Call Me By Your Name,” which hits theaters nationwide Nov. 24, wowed audiences at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival over the weekend, and currently boasts a 98 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The Los Angeles Times praised the film, which is based on André Aciman’s novel, as “a powerfully erotic and affecting love story.” The Daily Beast described an early screening as “tantamount to group gay catharsis for the audience in attendance.”
We Need Your Support
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
As for Hammer, the film “challenged and pushed” him as an actor. “To be perfectly honest, I think the reason I took this movie, and the reason I had to take this movie, is that it scared me,” he told People. “I couldn’t be more thankful for the experience.”
Catch the latest in LGBTQ culture by subscribing to the Queer Voices newsletter.