(from Premiere Magazine, November 2003)
Meet JT LeRoy, a former truck-stop hustler turned hot Hollywood property.
JT LeRoy's voice is innocent and honeysuckle sweet, but don't be fooled. At 23, the author and former prostitute is already a pro at hustling Hollywood. He worked on October's Elephant—the Columbine-themed Gus Van Sant film, and his novel Sarah is being adapted for the big screen by director Steven Shainberg (Secretary). He may also cameo in Asia Argento's The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, based on his short-story collection.
In a rags-to-riches tale that smacks of a little down-home apocrypha, LeRoy says he grew up on the road, turning tricks. His mother would sometimes leave him with his ultra-religious West Virginia grandparents. At 14, he landed in a child-crisis unit in San Francisco, where a therapist advised him to write. He penned Sarah, a prodigal-son story set in the world of truck-stop whores. “When I was writing, [it was] as if I was directing a Van Sant film,” LeRoy says. “So anybody I knew who possibly had a connection to Gus, I would say, "Can you pass him my book?" Someone did, and later, Van Sant asked him to help with Elephant. Says Van Sant, "I think he's like Tennessee Williams."
These days, LeRoy counts Winona Ryder, Madonna, and Tom Waits as friends. He claims to be uninterested in celebrity, but that doesn't mean he's above working the press. "Even if they write shit about you," he says, "it might inspire somebody to go and buy your fucking book."
Mama's Fallen Angel
by Cristy LytalMeet JT LeRoy, a former truck-stop hustler turned hot Hollywood property.
JT LeRoy's voice is innocent and honeysuckle sweet, but don't be fooled. At 23, the author and former prostitute is already a pro at hustling Hollywood. He worked on October's Elephant—the Columbine-themed Gus Van Sant film, and his novel Sarah is being adapted for the big screen by director Steven Shainberg (Secretary). He may also cameo in Asia Argento's The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, based on his short-story collection.
In a rags-to-riches tale that smacks of a little down-home apocrypha, LeRoy says he grew up on the road, turning tricks. His mother would sometimes leave him with his ultra-religious West Virginia grandparents. At 14, he landed in a child-crisis unit in San Francisco, where a therapist advised him to write. He penned Sarah, a prodigal-son story set in the world of truck-stop whores. “When I was writing, [it was] as if I was directing a Van Sant film,” LeRoy says. “So anybody I knew who possibly had a connection to Gus, I would say, "Can you pass him my book?" Someone did, and later, Van Sant asked him to help with Elephant. Says Van Sant, "I think he's like Tennessee Williams."
These days, LeRoy counts Winona Ryder, Madonna, and Tom Waits as friends. He claims to be uninterested in celebrity, but that doesn't mean he's above working the press. "Even if they write shit about you," he says, "it might inspire somebody to go and buy your fucking book."