SARAH.

"...'There are people,' LeRoy adds, 'that you have to prove you've done the whole deal to have any value. But Gus liked my work and took me seriously. He optioned Sarah and two of my short stories and hired me to work on a screenplay with him for another movie. He's really taken me under his wing.'


October 10, 2002: It looks like Gus is starting production on his new film, Elephant in Oregon. I've started up a page for this film, you can find it by clicking here. I will continue to update this page for Sarah as more information becomes available. It is still expected that Gus will make this film, though he is most definitely working on something else right now.


September 9, 2002: Sorry to have to report, but I have news from a fairly good source that Sarah is currently being put on hold (for reasons likely having to do with funding, you can imagine it's not the easiest film to 'pitch' to studios) while Gus moves on to make another, as yet untitled film set in and around a Portland area high school. Hopefully, one way or another Sarah will find a way to get made, and Gus does indeed want to make it, it apparently now just becomes a matter of when. And of course, money or studio backing. Too bad, sounds like such a great picture for Gus to make, following on the heels of Gerry it would have marked a return to the old independent style of filmmaking that Gus made his name on in the first place. Rumors had Courtney Love and Angelina Jolie battling over one of the film's main roles (most likely Sarah's 'mother'), but now it's being reported that Asia Argento has accepted the role. I'll keep you updated if this one ever gets going again...


January 16, 2002: So, Sarah is still in pre-production...but if you want to read some notes taken from the guy who went on a scouting trip to West Virginia with Patti Sullivan (the screenwriter for the film). click here to read them.


"...Sarah is the story of the prodigal son recast in the carnivalesque world of the highway truck stop and its environs. The narrator, an androgynous twelve year old boy, idolizes his mother Sarah, a "lot lizard," or truckstop whore. He leaves the safety of the lot - a perversely idyllic kingdom ruled by Glading Grateful ETC., a benevolent pimp who sent one of his boys to chef's school to cook gourmet meals at the truckstop diner - on a quest to become as famous as his mother. Adopting her name and sex, "Sarah" stumbles into dangerous and fantastic worlds pocketed away in the West Virginian wilds. He hitches a ride to the famous luck restoring Jackalope, is mistaken for a saint and must prove himself by walking on water. When he is captured by LeLoup, Glad's violent rival, "Sarah's" life is all but over. Will he perish at the hands of LeLoup, or will "Sarah" find his way home?

JT LeRoy has created a hauntingly memorable world, strangely reminiscent of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland. Heartwarming as it is bizarre, beautiful and stunningly original, Sarah heralds the debut at an impressive talent."

-- from JT Leroy's official site: www.jtleroy.com


Do yourself a favor and check out this amazing article in which JT Leroy interviews Gus Van Sant...get to it by clicking here


WANT TO BE IN SARAH?? READ BELOW TO FIND OUT HOW...

"Some time ago, I wrote a piece on Sarah, the first novel by the 20-year-old former Tenderloin street hustler JT LeRoy. The book -- a gritty, lush Appalachian fairy tale about lot lizards (truck-stop whores), folk creed, abuse, abandonment, and fine cooking -- touched me in a way that few contemporary works have done. Since the book's release and subsequent critical acclaim, Gus Van Sant has signed on to direct the film version. As it is the wish of the author that the title character be played by an unknown, I would like to take this opportunity to offer a public casting call to any androgynous thespian, with a 12- or 13-year-old face and timeless soul. Folks interested in auditioning for the role of Sarah, or any of the book's other formidable characters, should contact Bernie Telsey at (212) 868-1260."


there you have it, if you're not auditioning for Gus you have no one to blame but yourself!!


last updated September 9, 2002