augusten burroughs Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Bestselling author Augusten Burroughs has seen his memoir, Running with Scissors, ride the New York Times bestseller list for over two years; now, the book has been adapted to a film, starring Annette Bening as Burroughs' mentally ill mother. Burroughs was in Seattle recently to promote the film, and graciously sat down with Cinematical to chat about the book, the movie, and what's up next for him. Burroughs was impeccably dressed, soft-spoken at first but more animated once we broke the ice. He was by turns thoughtful, funny, and introspective, elegant and articulate -- as you might expect from a man who boiled and polished his coins to make them shiny when he was a child. The one giveaway to the inner nervous energy hovering beneath the calm surface was his nonstop nicotine gum habit ("Quitting smoking?" I asked upon seeing the skeletons of several packs of nicotine gum in the trash. "Oh, no, I quit years ago," he replied casually, as he popped a piece of gum in his mouth.)

Cinematical: Talk to me about the process of making the book into a movie. I know you were very creatively involved throughout, can you talk a little about how that all came about?

Augusten Burroughs: I first met Ryan in a restaurant in a hotel in Soho . I was meeting him, actually, to tell him that I wasn't optioning Running with Scissors. I just didn't have any confidence that Hollywood was going to get it right. I was kind of worried that the humor I'd used as a coping mechanism to survive my childhood would end up being the focal point of the movie, that it would end up being very campy or kooky.

If you didn't know better, you might find it hard to believe that the things that happen to young Augusten Burroughs in the film Running with Scissors actually happened -- and yet, they did. The film opens at a pivotal point in Augusten's life: His mother's decline into madness. When your mother is mentally unstable, your father is an emotionally walled-off alcoholic, and the two of them spend most of their time together embroiled in violent fights that end in threats of murder or suicide, it doesn't make for the most stable of childhoods. Augusten, who worships his mother and tries patiently to get the attention of his father, compensates by being a painfully neat child.

He obsesses over his hair being perfectly conditioned and styled, he dresses nattily in jackets and sweater vests, he decorates his mother's dog, Cream, with aluminum foil, and he boils his allowance and then polishes it with silver polish. When you're a kid whose adult support system is out of control, you take your stability where you can find it, and so Augusten carefully controls those things that are within his limited power.

Todd Field's adaptation of the novel Little Children by Tom Perrotta posed a lot of problems as he tried to cram the entire novel into a feature film ... so he rewrote it, literally. He hated the ending, and made some major changes, collaborating with Perrotta, who also shares a screenwriting credit on the film. They both worked together to make significant changes in order to adapt the book for into a film.

This isn't the first adaptation for either. Field wrote and directed Oscar-nominated In The Bedroom , which was based on an Andre Dubus short story. However, Dubus died two years before the film came out, which made it impossible for Field to colloborate with him. Perrotta's novel Election was adapted into a movie written by director Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. Perrotta didn't work on that script, however, since it was the first one of his novels to be optioned, and the movie development went into high gear and was in theaters only a few months after the book came out.

Just in case you missed them the first time around, here's a round-up of what we've been talking about on Cinematical this week:

Interviews, Columns, and Hot Topics

• Ryan Stewart Interviews 49 Up's Michael Apted
• What Makes a Black Film Authentic?
• Kevin Costner as Neo?!? And Other Near Disasters
• Erik Davis Covers The Departed Junket
• Jim Carrey Ain't Got No Game
• Cinematical Seven: The "Retro-Movie" Videogames
• Jeff Anderson's 400 Screens, 400 Blows: Streep Smart
• Mark Beall's Geek Beat: Marvel Musings
• Should a Film's Subjects Have a Say in Its Rating?
• Does the World Really Need Mr. Woodcock?
• Scene Stealers: Tom Wilson
• Film Blog Group Hug: Enter Witty Post Title Here
• Major Shakeup at Village Voice Leaves Only J Hoberman Standing

More, much more, after the jump ...

Best-selling author Augusten Burroughs, whose memoir Running With Scissors has been adapted into a film starring Annette Bening and Jill Clayburgh, already has another film deal in the works -- for a book he hasn't even finished writing yet. Burroughs notes on his website that he is writing a memoir about his father, which -- although not even written yet -- has been optioned by Universal. Red Wagon, the prodco behind Jarhead and Memoirs of a Geisha, will produce. Universal bought the rights to a book that doesn't yet exist, says Burroughs, all because they heard him talk about his father and believed in his passion. Burroughs says of the deal, "People complain - endlessly, it seems - about "Hollywood" and the quality of "Hollywood" pictures. But here we have some of the biggest names in the business, going forward with a project only because of the passion of the author. Is it a risk? Technically, yes. To buy something before you've even seen it? Yes, that's a risk. But it's only by taking risks that we get to the really, really good stuff in life."

I just saw Running with Scissors this week (review to come at the end of the month), and if Burroughs' book about his father is anywhere near as good as Running with Scissors and his other work, I could get pumped about it. I suppose it's a little naively hopeful to feel excited about a film adaptation of a book that's not yet been written, but what can I say? I'm a lit geek and a film dork; you put those two things together, and my heart goes all a-flutter. Burroughs was closely involved creatively with the film adaptation of Running With Scissors. I wonder if he'll get Ryan Murphy to direct again, and whether Joe Cross will reprise his role (assuming Burroughs will be a character in the yet-to-be-written source material). Burroughs' fans will also be glad to know that in addition to all this writing of books and creating of films, he's also developing a new weekly, hour-long series for Showtime.

Two weeks ago, I told you about my distaste for many of today's young starlets. Well, I've realized that there is one actress who has been effective throughout her short career: Evan Rachel Wood. Now I'm counting on the 18-year-old to continue going strong in adulthood, and I think she's more than capable of succeeding. In fact, I'm so certain of her ability, that I'd like to make this prediction: Wood will win an Oscar in her lifetime, if not in the next decade. She just needs to be better recognized by the industry so that she can get the roles she's worthy of playing. Coming up for her are two films that might get her more notice: the Augusten Burroughs adaptation Running With Scissors and Julie Taymor's Beatles-inspired love story, Across the Universe.

Wood might face one problem in her career, though: She isn't into the mingling and partying that keeps most of Hollywood's young stars in the industry eye, as well as in the public consciousness. Already she's (in my opinion, anyhow) the most beautiful and most talented actress under the age of 20, and yet few people know her name. Personally I think that her wanting a private, quiet life will benefit her in concentrating on her acting -- though I don't believe that partying is necessarily bad for stars, and could point out many who are good enough to be a part of the wild life. Lifestyle shouldn't be an issue. Hollywood and moviegoers should just notice a standout like Wood automatically. Not only has she not put in a bad performance, yet, she has already carried bad movies like Pretty Persuasion, making them worthwhile viewing for her work alone. I also think she would be effective in any of the bigger roles out there going to the likes of Dunst, Lohan, Bosworth, Howard and the rest.

So what is it going to take for her to become the most appreciated actress of her generation?