Dustin Lance Black, who won an Oscar for his screenplay for "Milk," wrote "J. Edgar" about a man he sees as Harvey Milk's opposite: A tremendously powerful person whose closeted nature causes significant harm.

Q:How did your view of J. Edgar Hoover evolve through the process?

A: I felt like I knew him less after I read all the books because they told such different stories. There were certain facts, moments, that seemed true across the board. Then it was tracking down as many firsthand sources as I could ... there's a lot of retired FBI guys who thankfully are in my backyard here, who are in their 80s and 90s. I'm sure they looked at me and said, "Oh hey, it's the 'Milk' guy - we know how this is gonna be." I said, "Give me a little credit; I want to hear all sides." And the FBI was very helpful. I know they're not going to agree with every conclusion I came to, but neither will the other side. The more I read, the more I thought this was a man who was gay, that he certainly didn't feel he could safely love the person he loved (second-in-command Clyde Tolson, in "J. Edgar"). I met with folks in their 80s and 90s who might have been like him, who are now openly gay, who hadn't been in the '50s, and I wanted to find out, what was that life like? The more I talked to these people, the more that behavior and that work ethic sort of matched up. If you are robbed of the ability to love who you love, you will fill that hole with something else. For him, it was power and a nation's admiration ... he started to do things that were heinous to hold onto it.

Q:What surprises most about Hoover's relationship with Clyde, as you portray it, is its tenderness.

A: Obviously some of it had to be invention because there are private moments. I will admit, neither of them granted me an interview. (laughs) They did not only all their work together, but all their socializing, all their vacations, and they often took pictures. The pictures are incredibly intimate. In almost all, they're touching. They're not just pals with their arms around each other; their hands are touching.

Q:In one scene, Hoover's mother intimidates him with the story of his former classmate, who was crushed for seeming gay ...

A: It's a true story, of (his classmate) who took his life after being made to stand outside in a hoopskirt for having put on his mother's pearls. Hoover's mother had also said she'd rather have a dead son than a "Daffodil" through her own journaling. I'll tell you what was very meaningful: the day we shot that scene, Clint Eastwood came up to me and said, "This is one of my favorite scenes. Because this scene speaks to what's going on right now." I was just incredibly moved that Clint Eastwood, of all people, felt for the young gay and lesbian kids out there who are being bullied. {sbox}