THE DARK BACKWARDS: THE BRET EASTON ELLIS INTERVIEW

His works have defined the dark heart of America’s upper-middle class for four decades. From the coke-fuelled hedonism of the 80’s (Less Than Zero, 1987) to the ambition-riddled avarice on the 90’s (American Psycho, 2000), novelist Bret Easton Ellis has exposed the shallow, soulless expansion of greed, indulgence and entitlement. The Canyons, directed by Paul Schrader, is his latest screenplay, a dissection of lust and jealousy set against the dense immorality of present-day Hollywood. Courtesy of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival, where the film has its Australian premiere this weekend, SCREEN-SPACE presents highlights from an extensive Skype interview, during which Ellis discussed his latest controversial work, the lingering legacy of his observations and misconceptions surrounding his latest leading lady, Lindsay Lohan… 

On the processes that lead to The Canyons: The movie we wanted to make and that Schrader and the producer Braxton Pope signed off on was kind of an adult noir thriller about young people in LA. We realized we didn’t have the money to finance the film ourselves so we went to Kickstarter and we needed about $160,000 for shooting the film and about $90,000 to complete it, which was supplied by me, Schrader and the producer. So, with about a week or two of rehearsals, we shot it in about 3 weeks in July and August (2012). This was a very simple ‘cat and mouse’ (story) where each scene flowed directly into the next, kind of like a puzzle, and once it was completed there was nothing to do. It was what it was. I went to the set a couple of times. It was finished on time, on budget.

On working with Lindsay Lohan (pictured, right): The first time I met Lindsey was at a dinner that was just for Paul, Lindsay, James, our producer and I. It was all just to meet each other; James hadn’t met Lindsey yet. I actually met Lindsey before in LA at various parties. I just never really sat down and talked to her. I met her again at the reading and she was great and then she got fired from the movie because she was late for rehearsal and Schrader is just a Drill Sargent on the set and a lot of crazy as well - but all in a good way. I think in terms of getting the movie done and getting Lindsey to do the things she had promised to do. Schrader will tell you that it was a very easy shoot compared to something like Blue Collar where he wanted to kill Richard Pryor and Richard Pryor wanted to kill him and he sleep with a gun under his pillow every night because he was afraid that he was going to do something to him. So - this was nothing like that, this was a comfortable shoot. Despite what people might have read in the New York Times and magazines, yes that took about 20% of the drama, the other 80% was drama free.

On deciding on the leading man, hardcore porn actor James Deen (pictured, right; with co-star Lohan): I read a couple articles about him that had been forwarded to me by a producer. I had never heard about him before and I started to look at his work and read more about him and there was something about him that just began to drive this character I was thinking about in The Canyons. One night I was working on the treatment and I tweeted out to James Deen or I tweeted to myself and it got out into the twitter sphere that I wanted James to star in this movie. I’m about to write the script for it and he got back to me and we developed an online relationship. When we had dinner the first time I was even more convinced that James has to play the lead role. That was my one chip that I used, that I pushed for very hard and I am extremely happy with the results. I knew I was right.

On the mindset that lead to Patrick Bateman, the anti-hero of his 90’s satire and its subsequent film, American Psycho (pictured, left): I was very sympathetic to that world and there was a part of me that was sympathetic to Patrick Bateman, disregarding the episodes of extreme violence. There was something about him that I related to and, yes he was me. Every book stems from a autobiographical base and American Psycho is no different. It is where I was at the moment in my life, someone who realized [they were] entering the world of men and adults and its society sucks crap. I did not want to be a part of it, but I really wanted to be a part of it in some ways. That point in time was culture becoming so pervasive and it sparked something in me. It sparked a lot of anger in me and also a lot of shame, because I thought ‘Why am I feeling this way?’, ‘Why do I want to be part of a culture that I find loathsome?’ But I still wanted to be accepted into that culture!

On rumours regarding a remake of Less Than Zero (pictured, right), his novel-turned-movie that defined the 80’s culture of excess: People have been trying for years and years and years and 20^th Century Fox is just not interested. People with very powerful lawyers, directors with powerful lawyers…nothing is budging 20^th Century Fox to do it. I would assume that the material for a studio is not acceptable in this day and age. It’s not acceptable to make Less Than Zero the movie with teenagers. There was a little bit of talk about turning it into a TV series, [that] idea of updating Less than Zero to turn it into a edgier Melrose Place or Gossip Girl. That never happened either. This pipe dream a lot of people have about a new Less Than Zero movie is dead in the water. It’s not going to happen.

Follow the links for The Canyons screening details at both the Melbourne Underground Film Festival and the Sydney Underground Film Festival.