Red Hot Chili Peppers Bassist Flea Lands Movie Role in ‘Boy Erased’

Red Hot Chili Peppers member and sometime actor Flea has joined the cast for the new film Boy Erased, a coming out drama from writer Joel Edgerton. The bassist, whose real name is Michael Balzary, joins Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman and Edgerton in the movie.

Based on the novel Boy Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith, and Family by Garrard Conley, the Internet Movie Database says the basic synopsis of the true story is, “The son of a baptist preacher is forced to participate in a church-supported gay conversion program.”

According to Deadline, Boy Erased focuses on the lead character named Jared, the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, who is outed to his parents (Kidman and Crowe) at age 19. He’s presented with the choices to either attend a gay conversion therapy program or be permanently disowned by his family, friends and faith. Though Flea is reportedly part of the cast, details of his role have not been announced. Currently, the film is in pre-production, but it will be Focus Features who will be distributing the Boy Erased worldwide.

This isn’t Flea’s first time in front of the camera for a feature film; he’s been in quite a few, including this year’s critically acclaimed Baby Driver. Back in 1994, he appeared with his Chili Peppers bandmate Anthony Keidis in the Charlie Sheen vehicle The Chase, which also had a memorable role from Henry Rollins, who against type played an overenthusiastic police officer.

Flea also appeared in two of the Back to the Future installments as Needles, a frenemy of Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox as well as The Big Lebowski as one of the nihilists. He’s been cast in roles that weren’t too much of a stretch as well, performing as a musician in Less Than Zero and Tough Guys.