Director Ryan Murphy felt right away that Matt Bomer was the perfect choice to portray Felix Turner in the long-awaited film version of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart.

But he had to convince Kramer.

Murphy recalled for the upcoming issue of Out Magazine how he told Kramer they’d found their Felix, a key character in the AIDS drama: ‘I said, "I really believe in Matt Bomer.’ And Larry said, "But he’s so beautiful! Is he too beautiful?"’

To convince Kramer, Murphy arranged for the two men to meet and the 36-year-old Bomer admits that going in, he was ‘starstruck’ because he had first read The Normal Heart as a 14 year old.

‘It was like meeting one of the Beatles,’ Bomer tells the magazine. ‘He was so central to my understanding and development. We talked for a really long time.’

Kramer, who has waited nearly 30 years for his acclaimed play about the early days of the AIDS crisis to be turned into a movie, sent Murphy an email immediately after his meeting with Bomer which simply stated: ‘He’s the one.’

Bomer’s character falls victim to the disease as his partner Ned Weeks (Mark Ruffalo) raises hell to figure out what’s happening and why no one in the government wants to do anything about it.

Bomer appears healthy and vibrant early in the film but then had to lose 40 pounds to show how the disease had ravaged his Felix’s body.

Said Murphy: ‘I think Matt felt the ghosts. I think he felt all the shame and humiliation and degradation of all those brothers who have died of AIDS. It was a very beautiful, spiritual thing to witness.’

For his part, Bomer feels changed by the experience: ‘It taught me how to access myself on a completely different level as an artist. And it blew my mind in terms of the level of unconditional love between Ned and Felix – my goodness, if these people could incorporate this into their lives, under their circumstances, why can’t I?’