Neeson plays IU teacher

IU is the center of another film about sex. \nBut this time administrators won't be up in arms about the film's release. Actor Liam Neeson will portray sexual pioneer and biologist Dr. Alfred Kinsey in a feature film about the IU sex researcher's life.\nNeeson, the Irish-born star of such films as "Schindler's List," "Michael Collins," and "Star Wars: Episode I," will star in the new bio-flick written and directed by academy-award winner Bill Condon.\n"I hope it's one of those movies that speaks about things," Neeson said in an interview published by E! online. "It does feel like it's time to remind people of Kinsey's ideas, which I think are liberating. I hope there's an exhilarating feeling you get when you come out of the theater." \nKinsey, who came to IU to teach zoology in 1920, is famous for the revolutionary sexual experiments and studies he conducted during the 1940s and 50s. He gained national recognition for his books "The Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" and "The Sexual Behavior in the Human Female."\nHe is best known for founding the Kinsey Institute, a center for sexual studies at IU Bloomington. \nCondon said George Clooney passed on the role of Kinsey. Ralph Fiennes, Jeff Bridges and Michael Douglas were all considered for the part. The film will be produced by director Francis Ford Coppola and is also expected to star Laura Linney as Kinsey's wife, Chris O'Donnell as fellow scientist Wardell Pomeroy and Ian McKellen as the film's narrator. Filming is scheduled to begin next March in Toronto.\nJennifer Bass, head of Information Services of the Kinsey Institute, said the fact that Kinsey was able to accomplish all he did with limited resources should be something Condon takes into consideration for the movie.\n"I think the fact that he was able to work in a setting of a state supported university and do all he was able to accomplish deserves some attention," Bass said.\nIn order to prepare for his role as the legendary sexual researcher, Neeson has contacted the Kinsey Institute to ask for suggested readings. \n"I know that Mr. Neeson is doing research on Kinsey and reading some of the biographies on Kinsey," said Kinsey Institute User Services Coordinator Shawn C. Wilson. "His office has contacted us for research, so I think Mr. Neeson is off to a good start."\nIt has not yet been determined if the institute will have any other input in the making of the motion picture. \n"The only contact has been with Neeson's office so far," Wilson said. "We do not know yet how much input if any the studio will ask of us."\nHow the doctor is portrayed on the silver screen could be a concern for the institute given the controversy surrounding Kinsey. In the 1980s, Dr. Judith Reisman accused Kinsey of pedophilia because his book scientifically detailed orgasms in adolescent males. Questions arose as to how Kinsey collected such research, but Dr. John Bancroft, director of the Kinsey Institute, said Kinsey never did sexual experiments on children and compiled his information from discussions with sex offenders, among other sources. \nNevertheless, Reisman, who has written two books on her objections to Kinsey, has expressed her outrage to Neeson in a letter. \nBass said this controversy is nothing new and said there is plenty of good to say about Kinsey.\n"Sex always has been very difficult to discuss in an academic setting," Bass said. "The opposition will always be there, and we will respect their right to be there, but I think the majority of people are in favor of a scientific discussion on sexual studies."\nBass also said she realizes the film may be commercialized, but Condon's appreciation for Kinsey's work should show in the film.\n"Kinsey is an incredibly complex character," Condon said in a Variety article. "A scientist who spent 20 years as a biologist and had one brilliant but simple idea which is still radical today -- that no one person's sexuality is the same as another's and that we are all tortured by what is sexually normal." \nDespite fears that Kinsey may be painted in an unfavorable light, Bass said she is looking forward to the movie. \n"I think Liam Neeson is a wonderful actor," Bass said. "I don't know what treatment Bill Condon is using, but I am sure it will be a fine film"