Bret Easton Ellis: The Canyons Is a Cold, Dead Movie

After tons of rumors and hype over the past year, The Canyons will finally be released in select theaters and through video on demand this Friday. The Kickstarter-financed film co-stars troubled actress Lindsay Lohan (in her first leading role in six years), and adult film veteran James Deen (in his first mainstream role). Its an exploration of deceit and manipulation among wealthy and not-so-wealthy young people in Los Angeles, with some violence and graphic nudity thrown in. When youre going out to dinner with people and they ask you, God, is that movie you made really as bad as everyone thinks its going to be? that can be a little annoying, says Ellis, laughing over the phone from his Los Angeles office. But you just gotta see the movie, and youll see for yourself.

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What do you think of The Canyons as a finished product?
Its pretty good. And I think the fact that it even got made was kind of amazing. The mission to make this movie was almost as important as the movie itself. From the time that I wrote the first page of the script to when we had a cut of the movie was about seven months. And the fact that it looks much better than the quarter-million that it cost to make. It just felt like the whole process has been, despite what youve read, very positive. Everything that was talked about happened over a period of maybe five bad days of a schedule of 22 or 23. That New York Times Magazine piece made it seem like the entire movie was a train wreck, but in actuality, we came in on schedule and on budget. But thats not the perception thats out there. So, whats the better story? I read it, too. I was very disappointed in the piece. But, at the same time, Paul was really happy about it. He liked having it for the publicity. I mean, he thought it was great for the movie, and so I kind of changed my mind when I saw that Paul was completely fine with the piece. But it distorts the making of the movie.

Was Paul your first choice to direct?
Well, it wasnt a choice, really. What happened was we were working on another movie together, and it was, I think, a month away from being shot. It was cast and we had all the sets and locations, and the money fell through. Paul and I were just really bummed out, so he said, Write an original script and Ill direct it, and well make it in two months. Well put our money into it and lets just do it. I just want to make a movie. And thats how it happened.

The film was rejected by both Sundance and SXSW. Did that bother you?
I didnt care. I didnt think that we needed Sundance or SXSW. I thought there was a risk that we wouldnt get a distributor if we went to one of those festivals. I mean, the spirit of making The Canyons is a very Sundance thing, but the movie itself does not conform to the content of most Sundance movies, which have their whole host of indie clichs. Theyre about the resilience of the human spirit or whatever. The Canyons is a cold, dead movie, I guess, about cold, dead people. I like that about it I think something about that coldness makes it fascinating. But that coldness doesnt really play well at Sundance or SXSW. So my argument was: were going to get a distributor for this movie, and we might lose our chance if we go to either one of those festivals.

Whats your least favorite part of the movie-making process?
My least favorite part is that you have people putting in their two cents. Its their job to do that, but it doesnt make movies better. It just flattens them out and waters them down. But that seems to be retreating now. Its going to go away because people have access to equipment to cameras and to lenses and to making movies very cheaply.

There have been rumors that Lindsay Lohan had issues with Schrader and James Deen. Did you have any problems with her?
I was against her being cast at first because I heard she wasnt well and I thought she was going to bring a lot of baggage to the movie. But everything went away when we saw that she was playing the role this way. It really worked for the movie. She made the character much more combative and confrontational, whereas, in the script, the girl might have been less likely to act that way. She gave it a desperation that I really liked a lot.

Is it true French actress Leslie Coutterand was an understudy, just in case Lohan was fired or left?
Yes. That was in the first week. When it became apparent that Lindsay was going to finish the movie, I think Leslie was told, No, its okay. Lindsay was fired for being Late to the first rehearsal, and that was a very dramatic day. The New York Times got that totally right. It actually was much worse than how it was reported it was much more emotional and draining. I know that Leslie was definitely in the wings that first week.

Who has a brighter mainstream future on screen: James Deen or Lindsay Lohan?
Thats a good question. James doesnt want a mainstream career that badly. If it happens, great. But we approached James. He wasnt going out there before The Canyons trying to go on auditions. He was making a pretty good living in something that he liked to do, and he wasnt desperate for this role. He was always super casual about it. If he got it, great, if not, he still worked. He worked on porn during the shooting of The Canyons, so just because of that fact, Id have to say Lindsay. I mean, I think if Lindsay stays clean and sober, she would be great. I dont think she has to be totally sober, but if she pulled it back a bit? [Laughs.] The thing that people forget is that shes actually a good screen actress. A very good screen actress. Its just been buried by the tabloid activity of the last four or five years, however long its been going on. And so she obviously has a more viable future. But, you know, it depends on how she decides to approach her life.

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In your latest novel Imperial Bedrooms, a character mentions that they made a movie about Less Than Zero, Bedrooms prequel of sorts. Do you think characters in your future novels will mention The Canyons?
That could happen. I just really dont know if there is a future novel right now, thats the only thing. I mean, there are notes for one, but Im not sure. The Less Than Zero/Imperial Bedrooms scene was a very weird case. For some reason, I was going through this process where writing that down meant a lot to me. I was going through something really dark, and I wanted to revisit where Clay was at that point in his life, so I wanted to open the book that way. I dont know if I would repeat that again, where I would have a character commenting on the real Bret Easton Ellis life.

So youre not writing a new novel?
Well, I have a lot of notes, and Im moving them around, and Im moving them around some more. Sometimes it speaks to me, and sometimes it doesnt. So I dont know whats going to happen. You really cant force it. You have to stick to it in a very pronounced way. It has to really say, Okay, Im ready to be written. You have to write me now. And, I dont know, there are places where I dont think Im there yet.

Which of your books was adapted into the best movie?
I think by far it was The Rules of Attraction. For some reason, Roger Avary was able to find the visual equivalent of the book. I dont think Less Than Zero or American Psycho really did that. Maybe The Informers did a bit. Less Than Zero was very big budget, very over-lit. I mean, it looks gorgeous, but I dont know if that captured the visual equivalent of the novel. Its the same with American Psycho. Maybe American Psycho needed to be a bit more expensive to pull that off. But Roger was able to find the cinematic equivalent for a very difficult book to adapt. Since so many people were telling their own version of the same story, how do you pull that off in a movie? I think that movies brilliant. I mean, I really do. I wasnt expecting much when I went to see it, but I really like it. Whenever it pops up on cable or something, I can still watch it and be happy with it.

Youve described yourself as a very fearful person. What worries you the most?
Answering that question. Im very worried about answering that question. You know, its just a general outlook, thats what it is a macro way of dealing with the world or reacting to the world. And I actually think that a lot of writers have this kind of relationship with the world, and thats why they can create drama, because they can find it in anything. Its a great way to work and to be inspired, but its also a very difficult way to live. And thats why a lot of writers turn to drugs and alcohol as a release from the act of creating drama all day.

Youve had a lot of controversial tweets over the years last December you tweeted, come over at do bring coke now after watching the Rolling Stones documentary Crossfire Hurricane. Was it that bad? And did you score the coke?
I actually wanted to do T-shirts with that on it. People still bring it up. What was happening was that, after the Rolling Stones documentary, I did want some coke. But, quite honestly, I dont do coke. My coke days are over. But, for some reason, that night I wanted to do coke. And so I texted my friend who was out, and they werent going to be around. I texted my boyfriend, but he was out with friends. And then I thought I was texting someone I knew who could get it, and I wasnt texting I actually tweeted it instead. The next day, I actually laughed. I mean I was a bit mortified, but I actually thought it was funny. And I never deleted it.

Thats hilarious.
I never got the coke. And Im glad I didnt.