Ken with a limited-time interview of Kirsten Stewart and Laura Dern, for a drama titled J. T. LeROY.
J. T. LeROY was reviewed by AICN's own Sam here.
I agree with Sam, the acting was superb in this one. Laura Dern (Laura Albert) plays her many conflictions spot-on-proudly. Kristen Stewart (Savannah Knoop) charms you into submission with her character’s desire to find self, within her imposed androgyny. The direction is subtle. I can see it turning some away. However, the story is an interesting one and kept me absorbed to credits. If nothing else, see this one for the timely subject matter and acting. I had a hard time buying Laura’s character right off and then I did so, hook line and sinker a few minutes later. Laura and Kristen have a complicated relationship that really is the heart and soul of Savannah’s tale. J. T. LeROY is a very interesting take on self-identity. What that means for some and how it means something else for others.
Besides, who wouldn’t want to walk around in a famous authors pants for a bit?
Without further ado, Kristen and Laura.
Freddy Beans: Hello Kristen. Hello Laura. How are you both doing today?
Laura Dern: Hi Fred, I’m good.
Kristen Stewart: Hey Fred. I’m really good man, how are you?
FB: I’m doing pretty fantastic today, thank you.
Laura, can you give a brief synopsis of J T LeRoy for our readers?
LD: It’s based on Savannah’s memoir. It’s this six year experience, which she’s adapted with Justin Kelly, our director. On its surface, it’s a radical ride for a seemingly male writer who is actually a female writer. She asks her sister in law to pretend to be the male writer and the rest is history. Under the surface, which is why I think Kristen and I were so passionate to be a part of it, it explores identity. Comfort in one’s own skin. The pressure culture puts on others to identify a certain way. What is truth? What is a lie? All of these themes, I think, were fascinating to explore for us.
FB: Self analyzation is so important and empowering.
Kristen, what was your favorite aspect of playing Savannah Knoop?
KS: I like playing someone so young and unarticulated in terms of identity vocabulary, yet is completely herself. It’s a young woman grappling with gender, sexuality, and her own creativity and how to funnel that. It’s interesting having met the person at the center of this story. She’s one of the most self-possessed people, I’ve ever met. Finding a context for all of that confusion. Getting in her head, as a young person on the market. That story is very fundamental. To take a young person with that kind of delicacy, unique nature and put here at the center of something so out of her control. At times really salacious and others overtly admiring. Positive reactions and negative reactions everywhere and yet none of it can be true because it’s all a lie. Yet, it’s the most truthful thing you’ve ever done. It’s crazy! The relationship between Laura and Savannah and how they kind of recognized each other. They saw the struggle within one another. They mutually bolster that drive to arrive, where they feel comfortable. A weird thing happens between them, a sort of co-dependency. That constant struggle for power that happens between strong women. Women who really do love each other but all of a sudden can become selfish and feel bad about it, after. I found it all so complicated, true, and loving. I thought it was important to tell the intimate story and not just be a huge salacious news story. There’s actual human beings at the center of it. Things happened and there’s a reason for the way it went down.
FB: Absolutely. You caught everything with that last piece, they’re simply human. We succeed. We fail. We make mistakes and hopefully we learn from them.
Laura, did you find the character Laura Albert easy to identify with? What were the challenges you found in the role?
LD: I definitely didn’t find her easy to identify with but I understood her deeply. That was the fun of the journey. Feeling like you’re being your most transparent self, while others say you’re a liar. I think everyone deals with self-doubt in their lives. Someone is always projecting on you and you’re always projecting yourself onto the world. That piece, was really, deliciously fun. Also, trying to understand her, particularly from Savannah’s point of view. One thing about Laura is, she was always grasping at a persona, to sort of breathe through. She would have made a great actor. I’m sure that’s why she’s such a great writer. She found her breath through others interactions. It’s an amazing experience as an actor, to try and understand that desperation. Many of us can find that relatable. Finding out who we are and articulating it to the world, even when it’s terrifying to do so.
FB: Thank you for that Laura.
Kristen, THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER by Lidia Yuknavitch will be your feature film directorial debut. How excited are you to get cooking on this one and can you give a brief synopsis for our readers on Lidia’s life and memoir?
KS: Lidia became my favorite writer about forty pages into her memoir and I’ve read everything she’s written since. If I only have a minute to describe why I want to make the movie and why I think she’s truly, a remarkable human being. It’s not necessarily the things she’s gone through in her life. The way she’s swum through having a body and the violent things that happen to bodies. How we can channel that into love, creativity, and art. It’s some of the most traumatizing and revitalizing reading, I’ve ever done in my life. It’s not necessarily different from stories I’ve heard before. It’s her perspective. Her perception. The way she sees the world. The way she admires things. The way she consumes people and art. The way she fucks and the way she talks about it. She’s sort of hung her shame on a clothesline and let it dry. Now she’s completely and unabashedly herself. It gives the young woman in me hope for other young women. Just absolutely breaking every pre-conceived notion of who we’re supposed to be, as a body. Honestly, everything I’ve seen growing up, boys are allowed to be boys and girls aren’t allowed to be girls. Girls have to be something that’s anesthetized. Something fucking clinically clean and we’re not that. I think the way she writes about life, it’s just staggeringly beautiful and needs to be a movie.
FB: That’s beautiful. Thank you for that Kristen. Thank you both for your time. Good luck in the future!
LD: Thank you, you too!
KS: Thank you, Fred.
(And then our time was cut short, before I could get any further…..sigh)
You can buy J.T. LeROY now here.
Til next time Kids
Ken Lewis (AKA: Freddy Beans)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreddyBeansWrites/
Instagram: freddybeans13
Contact me: freddybeans@gmail.com
