Penn to Play Harvey Milk, Damon His Assassin

Director Gus Van Sant has signed up Sean Penn to play pioneering gay rights activist and San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk, and gay fave Matt Damon has agreed to play his assassin.

Van Sant is hoping to begin production of the film in San Francisco as early as December, but the start date is still uncertain which may affect Damon's participation as Milk's killer, Dan White, Hollywood Reporter writes.

Penn has never portrayed an openly gay character onscreen, but he played the sexually ambiguous Olivia Newton-John impersonator "Groovin' Larry" in a section of Trent Harris' 2001 cult hit "Beaver Trilogy."

If everything goes as planned, Matt Damon will play Dan White, who shot Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone in 1978. White committed suicide in 1985 after serving five years of a seven-year sentence.