maybe the poison drips through and enters your heart, inextricable from your blood. however hard you try to run from the rot, its smell still lingers on your clothes.

East of Eden

James Byron Dean (born in Marion, Indiana on February 8, 1931) was an American actor who dropped out of the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was studying drama, to pursue acting full-time. He made his television debut in a Pepsi commercial, but struggled to gain acting roles, so he studied in the Actors Studio to learn method acting under famed acting coach Lee Strasberg. He signed a contract with Warner Brothers soon after. He became a household name as the Cain-like brother, Caleb Trask in the period drama East of Eden (1955), based on John Steinbeck's novel of the same name. For this role, he became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Sadly, his last two films: the coming-of-age melodrama film Rebel Without a Cause, where he played his most famous role, Jim Stark, a disillusioned teenager, and the epic drama Giant, where he played a poor ranch hand who became a rich oil tycoon, were released posthumously due to his untimely demise. For the latter, he earned a second Oscar nomination, making him the only actor to receive two posthumous acting nominations. He also earned two posthumous BAFTA nominations and two honorary Golden Globe Awards. Despite a career that lasted only five years, he has become one of the most influential figures in Hollywood in the 1950s, and the world was left to wonder what more he could have achieved.

Alas… They were made for contrapuntal poetry… 😔

AO3 version here and alt text below!

@mcyt-jukebox-bonanza

So you’ve got bad in your blood? Brother, you’re one of us.