Plot summary

Before the release of Elia Kazan's East of Eden (1955), James Dean finds himself grappling with anonymity. Nevertheless, convinced that young James Dean is on the cusp of stardom, the American journalist and freelance photographer for Magnum Photos Agency, Dennis Stock, asks to photograph him to catch LIFE magazine's attention. Then, one day, James Dean decides to hole himself up in his family's farm and takes his new friend, Dennis Stock, with him. It is there where Stock will capture the most famous images of a legendary actor in the making.—Nick Riganas