Finian’s Rainbow Star Cheyenne Jackson Reveals Dream Role

Finian’s Rainbow star Cheyenne Jackson has already shown he’s one of Broadway’s go-to romantic leading men with roles in All Shook Up, Xanadu and his current gig as Woody Mahoney in the enchanting musical revival at the St. James Theatre. Now Jackson reveals to The Los Angeles Times that he wants to play one of the silver screen’s most enduring definitions of “tall, dark and handsome:” Rock Hudson.

"I'd love to play Rock Hudson," Jackson told the Times about the good-looking movie star known for his Oscar-nommed performance in Giant, his string of bedroom comedies opposite Doris Day and being the first major public figure to acknowledge that he had AIDS. "I find fascinating this idea of having to create a totally different persona than who you are,” Jackson continued about Hudson. “He obviously made the best choices he could at the time but I find his life heartbreaking."

Unlike the closeted Hudson, Jackson proudly calls himself, "strong, gay, loud and sensitive." In addition to starring in Finian’s Rainbow, the actor has been hard at work with a multi-episode role on TV’s 30 Rock, a new CD with the Broadway-bound Michael Feinstein and sharing life backstage with Broadway.com via his video blog.

There is no known biopic about Hudson in the works, but someone out there should definitely get cracking on one. There’s a certain Broadway star ready for his close-up.