(Cover) - EN Movies - Mike Mills' father was initially reluctant about having a film made about his colourful life.

Indie filmmaker Mike, who shot to fame with the quirky drama Thumbsucker, wanted to tell the story of his late father, who came out to his son following the death of his mother. After coming to terms with his sexuality, the pensioner became an ever present fixture at gay nightclubs. The story is the main focal point in Beginners, which stars Ewan McGregor as the son and Christopher Plummer as his 75-year-old father, who later died of cancer in real life.

"My dad said, 'Why would you want to do that?' I was like, 'Your love life, your sex life, your emotional life - what was allowed to you was so clearly historical. It's so much about being born in the 20s. It's so much about being married in 1955. How can I not? It's so fascinating,'" Mike explained to The Telegraph.

"He was like, 'Huh!' That's so my dad. Later, I did interview him a little bit, so he knew what I was doing and he would talk. That was his endorsement."

While Mike was keen to let the actors do their own thing with the characters, he was delighted when Christopher made an observation that was in sync with his father. The actor wanted to make it more obvious that he loved his wife even though he was gay.

"I was like, 'Interesting you said that. How did you know he loved her?' 'He did! I just know.' It was really weird that Christopher picked up on that." (C) Cover Media