THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

It's not a given that Hollywood's hottest actor who recently played gay would be cast in the lead of a biopic about a flamboyantly nonconformist-yet-still-hetero football star. But it does make a kind of sense that Jake Gyllenhaal (pictured) has been chosen to play 60s gridiron icon and sex symbol Joe Namath. The legendary sports figure and 1969 Super Bowl hero was also a pop culture phenomenon known for his flash: wearing fur coats on the sidelines and accepting endorsement deals from pantyhose companies ( check out that vintage Beautymist commercial on YouTube if you're too young to remember ) . And thanks to Brokeback Mountain and subsequent drag appearances on Saturday Night Live, Gyllenhaal is known for being game to go where lots of young actors won't. So when the writers' strike is over, the film's script and production schedule can get on track.

L Word's Kirshner to Buy Borrow Steal

When The L Word shuts down production at season's end, star Mia Kirshner goes back to work: on feature films. Her latest project, after recently co-starring in The Black Dahlia, is Buy Borrow Steal alongside Heather Graham. Graham plays a young professional in London who learns that she has very little time left in which to get pregnant. Her unreliable boyfriend refuses to assist in the science experiment, so she enlists the help of best friend Kirshner to help her fulfill the mandate of the film's title. Maybe the success of Knocked Up means more pregnancy-themed comedies coming down the multiplex turnpike, or maybe, like egg fertilization itself, it's all an accident. Either way, the U.K. shoot wrapped in early 2007, and the film is on the festival circuit now with American distribution soon to follow.

Jarmen Explored by Julien

British filmmaker Isaac Julien is one of 30 directors to be awarded a Sundance grant for his latest work, Derek, a combination documentary/biopic about the life of experimental filmmaker Derek Jarman, who died in 1994. Best known for his controversial 1977 punk rock-themed film Jubilee—a movie starring Adam Ant that imagined Queen Elizabeth II time-traveling to a dystopian future—Jarman was one of the few openly gay directors working in England in the 1980s. Julien, director of Young Soul Rebels and the queer film-fest favorite Looking for Langston, worked with executive producer—and longtime Jarman collaborator—Tilda Swinton ( Chronicles of Narnia ) to bring the project to life and ensure that Jarman's cinematic legacy isn't forgotten. The finished film debuts at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival in January.

George Takei Treks to New Frontiers

Forget what they say about coming out ruining an actor's career. Given the nonstop forward motion of Star Trek's George Takei's work schedule, it's probably an understatement to say that the actor wishes he'd done it even sooner. The man has no fewer than five projects taking shape right now: a video game based on the hit animated series Futurama, and four live-action roles in films, ranging from the sounds-like-it'll-open-at-a-drive-in-theater-in-1978 Ninja Cheerleaders and American Summer ( a comedy about prostitution ) to the war drama, The Red Canvas. But playing himself in The Great Buck Howard might prove to be his biggest comeback vehicle to date. The movie co-stars John Malkovich, Tom Hanks, and Colin Hanks, and concerns a magician and his young assistant. Sounds like the 70-year-old actor is working some magic of his own.

Romeo San Vicente's idea of 'boldly going where no man has gone before' is changing brunch locations. He can be reached care of this publication or at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com .