|
 |
  
 
 |
|
Behind The Seen: Blake Nelson
Posted by Rob Ortenzi on 04-Jun-08 @ 02:43 PM
Author BLAKE NELSON's debut novel, Girl, hit the big screen in 1998, helping to launch the careers of both Selma Blair and (unfortunately) Tara Reid. He recently entrusted his 2006 novel, Paranoid Park, about a skater who accidentally kills a security guard, to acclaimed indie director--and fellow Portland, Oregon, resident--Gus Van Sant. Audiences can see the film adaptation when Paranoid Park is released in theaters this month. Gus Van Sant was initially interested in another book you wrote. Is that how you two first met? Well, my mom actually taught Gus in school when he was a teenager, but I never met him back then. Years later, I wrote Girl, and that got a lot of press in Portland because it was sort of a local-boy-makes-good kind of story. I met him around that time; he liked that book. Then two years ago, my agent called and told me that Gus was interested in one of my books, Rock Star Superstar, so that kind of rekindled our communication. When I started writing Paranoid Park, I kinda knew halfway through that I should probably send it to Gus. Being from Portland, did you feel a kinship with him? Back in the '80s, when he [was filming] Drugstore Cowboy, there were all these rumors going around among all the artsy music people that there was this guy making a movie. You'd hear his name and think, "Ooh, that's a cool name." Over the months that they made the movie, some of my friends started working on it. When it finally premiered, the whole frickin' city showed up because everybody in Portland felt like they had helped make this movie. It was an amazing feeling, and I remember being so enamored, like, "Who is this guy?" In another interview you did, you mentioned that you didn't really care how faithful Gus' version of Paranoid Park would be to your book--as long as he did something cool with it. That seems like a pretty enlightened stance to take. There's a legal aspect to it, too. I always tell younger writers that if they ever find themselves in that situation and they want input into how the movie is made, you have to put that in the contract. Once you've signed away the rights, they can basically ignore you if they want to. If you don't want to be ignored, that just means lawyers and fights and then basically no one will ever want to make a movie out of one of your books again. Would you say you're happier with the adaptation of Paranoid Park than you were with Girl? Yeah, but I shouldn't say anything bad about Girl. Those people tried; it just wasn't a strong movie. Plus, it was my first time out, and I didn't wanna shoot myself in the foot by trying to interfere. With Paranoid Park, I didn't even want to interfere. When I saw the finished film, I knew it would've been pointless anyway, because everything Gus does is cool. Plus, you know, as someone who makes stuff myself, the worst thing is some guy who doesn't really know your format telling you, "Oh, that's not what I meant." I remember when I saw a picture of the lead actor [Gabe Nevins], I thought, "That guy doesn't look right," but I kept my mouth shut. Then I met him, and he looked way cooler than I thought, but I still didn't see it. Then I started watching the actual footage on the monitors, and it was like, "Oh-I get it." -J. Bennett Paranoid Park hits limited theaters this month. For more information about author Blake Nelson, check out blakenelsonbooks.com. |
