A Very Serious Person

Movie / Show Details

Product Description

A touching tale of evolving sexual identity and self-discovery that feels both familiar and utterly original. Precocious teen Gil loves vacations with his beloved grandma Mrs. A (Emmy winner Polly Bergen, Commander in Chief). Mrs. A is raising the boy, whose parents are deceased.

But this year s summer is different. Grandma s health is failing, and she requires a live-in caregiver. When Danish male nurse Jan (Charles Busch) arrives on the scene, Gil doesn t know how to react to the business-like nurse. Likewise, Jan isn t interested in Gil he is totally focused on his new patient.

Although Gil and housekeeper Betty (Dana Ivey) are certain that Grandma will dislike Jan as much as they do, Jan suits Mrs. A perfectly, cooking her healthy foods and soothing her in a way no previous nurse has been able to do.

And even though Jan has no interest in kids, he eventually finds himself drawn to Gil, and concerned about what will happen to the boy when his Grandmother passes away. Jan himself is surprised by this, as he is both a bachelor and a gay man. In fact, he is really concerned about Gil s somewhat flamboyant developing personality, certain that this will cause havoc as he gets older.

About the Director

A Very Serious Person marks the directorial debut of the legendary Charles Busch. The film premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won an honorable mention. Busch also stars in the film as Jan.

He previously wrote and starred in “Die Mommie Die,” for which he won a 2003 Sundance Film Festival award for best performance. And, he wrote and starred in “Psycho Beach Party.”

His film acting career includes “Addams Family Values”, “It Could Happen To You” and “Trouble on The Corner.” On television, he appeared for two seasons as Nat Ginzburg in the HBO series “Oz”.

He is also the subject of the documentary film The Lady in Question is Charles Busch.

His theatrical career includes these highlights: author and star of Psycho Beach Party, Times Square Angel, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset, You Should Be So Lucky, and Shanghai Moon. His play Vampire Lesbians of Sodom ran five years in New York and is one of the longest running plays in Off-Broadway history.

Busch’s play “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” starring Linda Lavin, Tony Roberts and Michele Lee was nominated for a Drama Desk for best play and won Mr. Busch the Outer Critic’s Circle John Gassner Award for Playwriting. It reopened on Broadway in November, 2001, was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Play and ran 777 performances.

For his play “Shanghai Moon,” Busch was nominated for a Lucille Lortel award and a Drama League Award.
Busch was also given a special award for career achievement at the 2003 Drama Desk Awards.