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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1995)
just out ▼ BEHIND THE QUEENS Continued from page 27 half. I just locked myself up and went days and nights without sleep and food just because I wanted to get it out. And then I gave it to my agent, Mary Meagher. She had some suggestions, and I rewrote it in about three days. And then it went out to about five or six studios, and they all passed. Some of them were really rude about it, and offended we’d even showed it to them. One studio said, “This is not a suitable subject matter for a film.” ... So I was getting all these passes the first day, and I thought, “That’s it, it’s over, back to macaroni and cheese for you, Doug.” Then my agent called and said we had a bidding war be tween Disney and Spielberg, and I was like, “They know they’re drag queens, right? They don’t think they’re dragons or dragoons or drag racers?” [Spielberg] had been looking for a long time to address homophobia in America. It’s something he’d had his eye out for. [ Wong Foo] was exactly what he wanted.... He wanted to show that there was a place for everyone in America.... He also said he’d just come back from concentration camps in Poland and needed a laugh. What would you say to those who will immedi ately compare your film to Stephan Elliott’s Priscilla, Queen o f the Desert? God bless. I mean, it is an amazing coinci dence to me that I would go off and write this and then find out that there’s another script in Austra lia which is about three drag queens driving across [that country]. I mean, honestly, our film is not about preaching to the converted. Our film is much more about the heart and connection and warmth. [Priscilla] was about shocking and great costumes and music. When I first heard about it, I said, ‘It’s in Australia. No one will see it.” But when it became successful, I went, “Well, it is inevitable that they will be compared.” Amblin actually took a meet ing with Mr. Elliott, and they literally went over each other’s script and said, “They’re different. W e’re fine.” Which makes me very happy. So if someone thinks they don’t need to see Wong Foo because they’ve seen Priscilla.. . Oh, no, they’re totally different movies. And I think the Priscilla people would say the same thing. Absolutely. I mean, if nothing else, this is about America. This is very much about what it is to be gay in America. Did you write the screenplay with three spe cific actors in mind? I wrote Chi Chi for John Leguizamo. The other two, I had different actors for different scenes. I was amazed when Wesley wanted to do it. And equally amazed with Patrick. We had some amaz ing people try out for Vida Boheme It was outra geous. Tell me about the casting process. Well, they had to do drag. They had to do drag screen tests, which was great. I’ve seen every major Hollywood actor in a gown. Some of them were wonderful, and some of them literally fell off their heels. Name names. Name names! Who fell off their heels? John Turturro was pretty bad. [Laughter.] But he’s a great actor. It doesn’t mean they’re bad ac tors, it just means as drag queens, they’re not making it happen. Some of them were ju s t so b eau tifu l. Jam es Spader, my God, he was breath- takingly gorgeous. And Matt Dillon— forget it! And every damn Baldwin, I saw in a skirt. It was like, “Which one was that again?” [Laughter.] And John Cusack looked exactly like Joan Cusack, which I thought was amazing. I said, “Why don’t we just hire Joan Cusack and say it was John Cusack.” [Laughter.] What role did you have in the casting process? Beeban, our direc tor, was really won derful. First thing she said was, “How do you feel about straight men?” I said, “I have no problem w ith straight men playing these roles. I will have a problem with fa mous closet queens Wesley Snipes doing the roles.” And she agreed, so we did not [audition] them— or people who were very homophobic, who did want to play the roles, which amazed me. Why do you think homophobic actors would want to do Wong F o o l It’s a well-written script. You’ve got a lot of great lines, a lot of sad scenes. It’s a great role. I don’t think they necessarily got what it was about, you know. That those big speeches that they got to say were actually about gay issues. Honestly, I think it was just because it was a chance for them to put on a dress and get an Oscar nomination. Some members of the gay community are clam oring, “Why don’t we have three gay actors in these roles?” My feeling is, “How would we know they’re gay?” I mean, I don’t know how you audition that. “You call that a blow job?” [Laughter.] I come from the theater. Theater is about acting. What can you do? What do you bring? What are the qualities that you bring? I mean, by that same flip of the coin, am I not going to cast a gay actor in a straight role? That would be a horrible thing to do.... It is called “acting,” it is not called “being.” This film hired so many gay actors and per “We’re casting for extras,” and like, 500 drag queens showed up from like every place in the Midwest. It was like, “No, we have the drag queens. We want your standard-issue middle American.” [Laughter ] What makes you proudest about Wong F o o l What I’m proudest of is that at no point does anyone have to explain why they’re gay, or what makes them gay. They just are; it just is. They never for a moment doubt it—they just do it. I have sensed a tremendous release in the sneak screenings that we’ve done. When Wesley checks out a guy as he goes by, or when the police pulls them over and Patrick looks in the rearview mirror and says, “What in gay hell!”— when they say, “We’re gay”— there’s a release in the audience. They laugh and they applaud, like, “Oh, thank God.” We’re talking about it. We’re saying it. We’re not Some Like It Hot. It’s not like, “Oh, but they’re really straight.” No. They’re gay, and that’s what it’s about. "I wrote Chi Chi fo r John Leguizamo. The other two, I had different actors fo r different scenes. I was amazed when Wesley wanted to do it. And equally amazed with Patrick. ” formers, it’s outrageous. And it was never an issue. What Beeban wanted to do was bring audi ences. People are going to go see this movie who would never see Priscilla, Queen o f the Desert. Who wouldn’t go see Philadelphia. Wouldn’t see anything that touched on a gay issue. There are people who are going to go see this movie because they saw the trailer, and Wesley looks like fun. And he is fun. Any funny anecdotes from the location shoot ing in New York City or Lincoln, Nebraska? Beautiful, gorgeous Lincoln, Nebraska. God bless it.... One thing that was hysterical is that we became this gay pilgrimage spot for everything in the Midwest. Suddenly, lesbians in Volkswagens were coming from Minnesota. [Laughter.] What I also thought was hysterical is when they said, 1 . 1 9 9 3 ▼ 2 9 Which of your upcoming film and TV projects are gay-themed? The television show obviously is. I mean, I’m gay. I will bring that to any thing I write. That is understood. I don't get jobs because of that. I also get jobs because of it. People have to understand that I’m not going to not write gay. I mean, there is a gay aspect to everything I’m writing. It’s part of my understanding of life, so it’s going to be in my scripts. Do you feel a responsibility as a suc cessful, openly gay screenwriter work ing in Hollywood? Yes. To be honest, Id o .... It’s to show that, yes, we are everywhere. It’s a part of everyone’s life. Everyone knows some one who’s gay. Y ou may not know they’re gay, you may be in denial about it, but you know someone who’s gay. In all my writing, that’s what I’m trying to say. Any desire to move to Hollywood? No. Not really.... I go there for a visit, and I have a nice time, but I’m a New York person. What if not living in Hollywood impedes your screenwriting career? Fine. Fine.... I’m a New York fag writer. That’s from David Mamet’s play Speed the Plow. I’m Hollywood’s biggest dream. If I come onto a project I’ve got class written all over me. [Laugh ter.] It’s like, “He’s from New York. He sleeps with men. He’s a real writer. He’s not one of these Hollywood closet queen writers.” [Laughter.] How would you describe your ideal career? Kind of what I’m doing. I get to write plays, I get to write great television shows, and whenever I write a screenplay, people want to buy it. It doesn’t get better than this. "SEDUCTIVE...SC ARtüf CONFDENT, BEAUTHJUY ACTED!' Rlchartf Caritos. TIME MMAZME “ A M U ST S e e !” U ■ ! , ' i *t I M Y( ' \ / I M V SAF ILM m r* SONY PICTURES CLASSICS K o in C e n t e r SW 3rd a C L A Y 225-5555 + 4605 "A m o n g t h e g r ea t INTERNATIONAL FILMS about coming out." "C onsiderable sexual tension ." W lL t> K i m WWW in \M >Ki IK HIM S T A R T S FRI DAY, S E P T E M B E R 1 K om C enter SW 3 r d * C l AY 223 -3 5 5 5 + 4 *0 5 12 A 9 EXCLUSIVE PORTLAND ENGAGEMENT NOW SHOWING m— — mm—a m c A L L T H E A T R E F O R S H O W T I « E S