Jamie Bacon & Brandon Mychal Smith Staring In ‘Pretty Boy Delaney’

EXCLUSIVE: Jamie Bacon, Brandon Mychal Smith, Monroe Cline and James Oliver Wheatley are to front Pretty Boy Delaney, a gritty indie pic set to the backdrop of the fentanyl crisis.

Filming is underway on the pic, which is billed as a character-driven drama tackling addiction, mental health, and homelessness. Bacon is writing, with Liv Forsythe (Time is Emotional) the director, and Dean Street Productions, Forsyth Films and CK Films. Steven Cookson, Neylin Mutlu, Hussain Manawer (Mogul Mowgli) and Bacon are also producing. Nick DeCoster is exec producer.

In the film, Bacon (Mr Loverman, Dreamers) plays the title character, a 26-year-old former boxing prodigy now battling a relentless fentanyl addiction on the streets of Skid Row – territory ruled by the cold and calculating Shannon (Smith) – after settling in California with his older brother John (Wheatley). Estranged from his daughter, Delaney encounters compassionate outreach worker Emma (Cline) and boxing coach Berne (Eddie Arrazola), and is offered one last fight.

Arrazola (Animal Kingdom), Beatrice May (Midnight Peepshow), Hardia Madden (Pups), Richard Lewis Warren (Ray Meets Helen) and Cosmo Lombino are among the ensemble cast.

As with Bacon’s first film, Into the Mirror, cult composer Johnny Jewel will create an original score. Director Forsythe made her directorial debut last year with Time is Emotional, a short doc about the delicate process of grief through the eyes of a young woman in the year following her mother’s death. Pretty Boy Delaney marks her feature debut.

“This film has been six years in the making,” said Bacon. “Independent cinema takes grit we’ve fought for every inch of this. I’m a big believer in championing emerging filmmakers and creating space for new voices. That’s why I brought in Liv. She’s fearless, and that’s exactly what this story demands. We’re telling it raw, real, and without compromise. I don’t think we’ve seen anything quite like it on screen.”

Bacon called Pretty Boy Delaney “deeply personal,” noting he had grown up with a sibling with Tourette’s and had himself been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia later in life. “I know what it feels like to be misunderstood and isolated,” he added. “These are the silent battles most people never see.

Homelessness and addiction go hand in hand, and with the rise of the fentanyl epidemic, that crisis is more urgent than ever. So many people carry childhood trauma into adulthood. For some, addiction becomes a way to survive the pain. This film doesn’t sugarcoat that reality, but it also shows there’s a way back. I truly believe this story can save lives.”

Bacon recently appeared in Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s Dreamers, which played at the Berlinale, and for Lennie James-starring BBC series Mr Loverman. Smith is known for TV roles in Hulu’s Four Wedding and a Funeral, FX’s You’re the Worst and NBC sitcom One Big Happy, and film roles in Gridiron Gang, Get on Up and Dirty Grandpa. Cline has appeared in the likes of Ryan Murphy’s The Prom for Netflix, Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling and Anthony Diblasi’s Malum, while Wheatley recently appeared in Fox Nation miniseries Jesus Crown of Thorns and Paramount+ thriller High Ground and has a role in Alejandro Monteverde’s upcoming biblical film Zero A.D.

Bacon is repped by Link Entertainment and United Agents for literary. Cline is represented by Link. Wheatley is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment and International Artists Management and Smith by Innovative Artists with Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein his legal rep.