Last night's HBO premiere of Steven Soderbergh's "Behind the Candelabra" saw the filmic depiction of Liberace's life as written by his former lover Scott Thorson in the memoir under the same name.

"I read the book and I thought, 'okay...I know how to get in'," recalled Soderbegh.

"It's got a sort of finite period of time that we're dealing with."

The material turned out to be of similar importance for Matt Damon, who plays Thorson in the biopic.

"I knew I would do the part before I read the script because Steven [Soderbergh] gave me the book," said the 42-year-old actor during an interview with Zap2it.

"It is such an interesting dynamic between the two guys."

"In this unusually frank book Scott Thorson tells all: the good, the bad, and the ugly truths about the legendary entertainer who went to outrageous extremes to prevent the public knowledge of his homosexuality," read the book summary.

Thorson, 54, came under the spotlight after suing Liberace for $113 million, and allegedly reconciled with the performer shortly before his death in 1987.

"I wanted to be loved, to be cared for, and to give all those things in return," Thorson wrote in the memoir.

Surprisingly, Damon chose not to speak to the living Thorson in preparation for the role, reported Slate.

"I talked to Steven about whether I should and we decided it would be better not to," said Damon.

"We got everything we needed from his book. I think meeting [Scott Thorson] before I did it, 30 years after this happened, wouldn't have been helpful."