July 30,
2004
permanent
link
Today is the day to lay on a chaise.
Today's C-note interviewee is a former teenaged street hustler, now an accomplished artist at 24, with a new novel coming out in 2005. On screen, he's co-produced Gus Van Sant's "Elephant", which won the Palme d'Or last year, and co-written script (based on his book) for "The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things," which premiered this year at Cannes. And he writes online and in print because he's obviously got too much time on his hands. JT's first novel, Sarah, on the syllabus for courses at Stanford, Duke and Wesleyan, is a modern day fairy tale, full of emotions and undercurrents that anyone can relate to, find humorous and be moved by He's pals with folks like Courtney Love and Winona Ryder although he doesn't want to be famous for it, and he speaks in a soft, sweet Southern twang. He was originally supposed to be an interviewee of mine somewhere in the 60's, but I'm glad he stuck around to be today's.
The irony (in the Alanis Morrisette way) is that for today's big interview, I used a tape recorder for our phone conversation, and of course it crapped out on me, so I had to rely mostly on my sketchy notes, so I managed to distill my special hourlong phone interview with one of today's most interesting figures in literature and pop culture down to a not-so-long-or-detailed transcription. But don't let that reflect on my interviewee. And don't let that reflect on my interviewing skills. Let it reflect upon my use of a tape recorder. Oh well.
The JT Leroy Interview: It's About 20 Questions
What can you tell us about your upcoming book Harold’s End? Why did you choose to make it a novella, rather than a short-story or a full-length novel?Do you like Forster?
I love him. I really like Maurice. I like that
British style of writing.
Do you find screenwriting pretty different or difficult,
compared with prose, or does it come easily to you?
I’m pretty good at dialogue, so it comes pretty easy to me.
I kind of write them more like they’re novels, though, because I like
a lot of description.
What’s the most common misconception about you, either as an author or
a person?
That I live in this big
celebrity world, and that I’m only friends with famous people.
I have a lot of friends who are talented and who happen to be celebrities,
but to me they’re artists. I am also friends with a lot of artists
who aren’t famous.
What’s the last song you’ve written with your band Thistle?
What’s it about?
We just finished one called “Mattress,” and it’s really playful. It’s
about a girl waiting for a boy, and it’s fun, kind of old-fashioned.
I haven’t written a lot of love songs. I used to write a lot of songs
about my mother.
What have you been listening to lately?
A lot of Morrissey. I love him and the new album. There’s a band called Smoosh
that’s two 12 year old girls. I write a lot of bios, too, and I’m working on one for Bryan
Adams and that’s really fun. Also Bright Eyes and Nancy Sinatra.
In regards to your celebrity supporters and fame,
it’s been written of you, “At times the hype surrounding LeRoy seems to obscure
his work, and it’s likely that more has been published about him than he himself
has written.” Do you think it’s
true? Are you concerned about
making sure your work keeps up with your notoriety, or is fame fame?
That’s probably true. You sometimes lose a certain amount of people people
with the hype. Zadie Smith and
Nick Hornby both told me that they liked my stuff but were turned off by the
hype.
Those are two
interesting people to
lecture you on hype.
You're right, I've never thought of it that way. Anyway, a lot of times,
when something is celebrated, there’s a reason for it. But I still wanted to make it about the craft. I got a book
deal at 17 but I held myself back a few years until my work had more solidity.
But I understand. I had heard so much about Mary Karr that I was reluctant
to read her but then I read Liar’s Club and I was like yeah, yeah, yeah, but then I read it and
thought it was amazing. But mostly
I want to hone my work and my voice.
Sarah is largely autobiographical and described by some as a coming-of-age
story. What are other memoirs
and autobiographies that you’ve enjoyed?
Liars Club.
Angela’s Ashes.
Anything by Alice Munro.
Why was “Terminator” your nickname when you lived on
the street?
Because it was so unlike me. Somebody gave it to me and it stuck, and some people still
call me that, like Dennis Cooper. I haven’t been Terminator for a long time,
though. I was a lot more fucked up then, and pretty wild.
“The
Heart is Deceitful Above All Things” seems like it got
some mixed reviews at Cannes. Are
you pretty good at handling critique, or is it very rough for you, especially
when based on something that came from your own life?
It really didn’t get mixed reviews. It got really good reviews. A few
reporters who didn’t even see the movie wrote some bad stuff about it and
then it got picked up in the media, as a couple other reporters promoted that
article. But really, the movies getting really good reactions. I think some
people just can’t handle that it’s not a movie that paints people in black
and white, and that’s directed by a woman, [Asia Argento].
Otherwise, I’ve been pretty lucky that I haven’t had that much criticism. I had one guy write a review of my book and I contacted him and thanked him. I didn’t agree with his review but I thanked him for being thoughtful.
You disguise yourself in a lot
of photos, often don’t read at your own readings and apparently don’t
do many in-person interviews. Are
you private or shy or something else?
Everyone talks about that so much, but I don’t know why that can’t just be
an aspect of me, you know? Actors,
when they go on talk shows or are in movies or whatever, can say, “Oh, that’s
just a character I play,” but I don’t have that.
It’s just a way to be protective.
I don’t want to go out in public as myself and have people say shit
to me. Susan Dey told me once
that whatever age you get famous at, folks will hold you to that. I dont want
to be held to anything.
Speaking of which, I feel I know a lot of personal stuff
about you. Is there anything that you don’t feel comfortable sharing with
people in your writing?
Not really. I feel like my personality, I just come through in my writing,
and I can’t hide that. There are some writers out there who just love
life and people and it comes through in their writing, like Stephen King,
and I really admire that.
What’s one particular style of writing that you wish
you were better at?
I wish I were one of them…I wish I were more scholarly. I'm
really jealous of people who are very educated. It would be great to
be in an institution where you can get constructive feedback from a teacher.
You have been compared to Andy Warhol.
Do you think everybody gets their 15 minutes of fame?
I think that everyone wants their 15 minutes.
People are so obsessed with wanting to be heard.
The thing is, working on a craft is too difficult, so people say, “Ah,
fuck it…I’ll just get on a reality TV show.”
John Waters once told me, “The most American thing you can do is reject
fame.” I don’t want to do that, but I do want to make it about my
work.
I think so…I never really thought about it. I used to not be friends with
any women. I didn't really know how
to talk to them, and I had to learn how to have a conversation with them after
a while. Before that, I just was friends with men who wanted to have
sex with me. But I think now it's just a coincidence that I have so
many female friends.
What’s your schedule? How do you have time for writing,
corresponding, thinking, music, hobnobbing and sleep?
I’m constantly stressed, I’m doing too much. I try to keep up with lots
of chocolate and green tea. Right now I’m working on a piece for the New
York Times book review section about my favorite author Breece
D'J Pancake. But I’m kind of overworked right now.
Are there any questions you’re sick of people asking
you?
It'll happen more with roundtable type interviews, but I get kind of sick
and bored with people who aren’t really up to date on their press on me and
they ask me the same questions all the time. I'll kind of get bored.
What’s something that you’re good at that your fans
might not expect? Football? Knitting? Pastry cooking?
Running. It’s more running than
jogging, though.
How does it feel to be the 100th person interviewed
for Zulkey.com?
I’m really honored. Thanks
for asking me!
Did you like this interview? There are a couple more where that came from.
Go shopping.
Look at pretty pictures
