WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Meltdowns are not Matt Bomer’s style, not even remotely, but he would have been due one in mid-March.

It was late afternoon, and Mr. Bomer had been at work since 5 a.m. on the set of “The Last Tycoon,” the latest adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel about Old Hollywood. Mr. Bomer, as Monroe Stahr, a gifted young movie executive, had started the day with a difficult monologue about death and moved on to a hot-and-heavy love scene. A confrontational third scene, performed with Kelsey Grammer (as Stahr’s thunderhead boss, Pat Brady), had left Mr. Bomer emotionally raw.

Then I arrived to ask him jagged questions. For more than 90 years, Hollywood has been trying and failing to pull off the perfect Fitzgerald adaptation. Why couldn’t anyone seem to get it right? What would keep this “Last Tycoon,” arriving on Amazon Prime on Friday, July 28, from becoming another sad example?

“Making a great television show is hard enough,” Mr. Bomer said carefully. “To also tackle F. Scott — whoa. But when you have brilliant people guiding you, people like Billy, you trust their vision and go for it.”