Yahoo Movies Dustin Lance Black reveals he sustained serious head injury: 'The road back will be long'
Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black is recovering from a serious head injury that he sustained last month — and "the road back will be long," he says.
The creator of FX's true crime series Under the Banner of Heaven shared the news on Instagram on Monday, noting that it has been a "challenging, frightening time for a creative type who depends on what's in his skull to work, care and love."
"So I vanished for a while," Black began his post, which features vacation photos alongside husband Tom Daley, the British diver and Olympic gold medalist. "A month ago I sustained a serious head injury that put me out of commission. Showing little improvement, my doctors ordered me to shut off my brain in hopes of it healing."
The "road back will be long," Black said, "But this week my sweet, over the top husband took us to the Greek Islands to make me shut off. I can already feel this trip is a step in the right direction, and I finally feel safe sharing a bit again. Thank you for all of your love and patience."
The filmmaker and LGBTQ rights activist — also known for penning the screenplay for the 2008 Oscar-winning biographical drama Milk, based on Harvey Milk — promised "more to come."
A rep for Black didn't immediately respond to EW's request for comment.
Phillip Faraone/Getty Images Dustin Lance Black
Black spoke to EW earlier this year about his decade-long journey to adapt Under the Banner of Heaven, based on Jon Krakauer's novel of the same name, for TV. "It's a bit surreal," he said of the series, centered on a devout detective (Andrew Garfield) whose faith is tested as he investigates a murder with ties to fundamentalist Mormonism.
"There are many times in the past 10 years that I thought this would never see the light of day," Black said. At the premiere, "I was pinching myself quite a bit and literally going, 'Is this happening? Did we find a way to get a story like this to screen? Did we find people courageous enough to participate?' This wasn't one that I did for the money, that's for sure. This is one I did for passion. I did it because I believe it's a necessary message right now."
The scribe recounts his experiences growing up as a gay Mormon in Texas in his 2019 memoir Mama's Boy: A Story from our Americas, set to be the subject of the HBO documentary, Mama's Boy. The Laurent Bouzereau-directed doc will open New York's LGBTQ+ film festival NewFest on Oct. 13.
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