Matt Damon and Michael Douglas have signed on to play lovers in the upcoming biopic about flamboyant pianist Liberace. Douglas will play Liberace, and Damon will play his boyfriend and personal assistant, Scott Thorsen.

It’s a departure for both men, who are used to playing very “alpha male” roles in films like The Bourne Identity, and Basic Instinct.

“Matt accepted the challenge,” Steve Soderbergh, the film’s director told People.com. While Liberace’s extravagant, flamboyant costumes seem worlds away from Michael Douglas, Soderbergh told People that he had no qualms about his casting decision.

“We’ve already done some costume and wardrobe tests on Michael, and they’re very, very, very good,” Soderbergh said. “Michael amazed me. He crushed it.”

Liberace died in 1987 of an AIDS related illness and was a massive star, and a hit in Vegas, where there is still a museum dedicated to his memory. His gay relationship went public when Thorsen sued him for more than US$100 million in “palimony”, an expression used to describe the division of finances when a personal, live-in relationship between unmarried parties ends.

The movie is to be released in 2012.

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