Gregg Araki was born in Los Angeles in 1959 and raised in Southern California. He earned a B.A. in Film Studies at University of California and an M.F.A. in Film Production from the University of Southern California, and has worked as a music critic for L.A. Weekly. His credits include The Doom Generation, Totally F***Ed Up, The Living End, The Long Weekend, winner of the 1989 LA Film Critics Prize for Best Independent Feature, and Three Bewildered People In The Night, which won the Bronze Leopard, Young Jury Cinema Award, and International Critics Award at Locarno in 1987.
Gregg Araki
Gregg: 45, male, filmmaker, Los Angeles.
æ: What are you currently occupied with?
Gregg: Working on my various projects. And doing interviews like this one.
æ: Scott Heim's novel Mysterious Skin struck me as dark and haunting. Told from a child's perspective, it comes across as being warm, lyrical and luring. What was your first impression of the novel? Morbid or tender?
Gregg: I loved Scott Heim's original novel so much. Mysterious Skin is such a dark, unsettling story but so beautifully and poetically told. The film is obviously a bit of a departure for me in that it's my first serious, character-driven drama ― most of my other movies have had more of a satirical, postmodern ironic quality to them. Whereas with this film, it was of paramount importance that its tone remain faithful to the evocative and dreamy mood of the book. That was my primary goal.
æ: Which character(s) do you relate to most in this story?
Gregg: I relate to all of them ― even the secondary supporting characters. That's the beauty and strength of Scott's book. He really makes all the characters so rich and deep. There are no stereotypes, no cardboard cutouts, no good guys and bad guys. Just real people with flaws, weaknesses, vulnerabilities and human frailties.
æ: What have you or Scott put into the film which we have not read or experienced in the novel?
Gregg: The film is an extremely faithful to the book. All the characters, the structure, the dreamy tone, it's all part of Scott's original vision.
æ: Many of your previous works pin on the pursuit of happiness (and romance). Mysterious Skin seems to deal more with healing. The past seems to matter more to these characters than to those you have shot previously. Are you in a phase (of life) of reflection yourself?
Gregg: I don't think I could have made Mysterious skin ten years ago. Every film I do is really a reflection of where my head is at and what I'm thinking about when I make it.
The hope in Mysterious Skin comes from the incredibly tight connections between the characters ― mothers and sons, best friends, soulmates ― there is so much at stake emotionally in this story. Even with Neil and some of his johns ― Zeke especially, the man with KS lesions in New York City. There is such tenderness and humanity. It's what makes the darkness bearable. It's like the beautiful musical score by Harold Budd and Robin Guthrie ― there's a soft dreamy centre to the movie. It's not all ugliness and horror. That's the most surprising thing to me about the film ― how "soft" it actually is.
æ: How was Mysterious Skin received at Venice, Sundance and Toronto? Any surprises?
Gregg: I've been absolutely floored by the across-the-board appeal Mysterious Skin has inspired ― from both the press and audiences. It's gotten the most widespread critical support of any of my films ― People magazine, Premiere magazine, Ebert and Roeper, Two Thumbs Way Up, the New York Times naming it one of the best films of the year ― it's been truly amazing.
At screenings, I've had my usual devoted Doom Generation/Nowhere fans coming up to me telling me how much they love the film, but also grandmothers in their 60s, super-hetero Mormon guys, women of all age ranges and types; it's been kind of all over the map. I think the film really touches a universal chord in people and despite some tough scenes and challenging subject matter, people really relate to the emotional journey the film takes you on.
It's really a testament to Joe and Brady (the actors) I think ― their performances are so good and they're so sympathetic they kind of take you by the hand and lead you through the rougher scenes in the story.
æ: Is Mysterious Skin looking like another independent film catching the eyes of the mainstream audience?
Gregg: I sure hope so because I want this movie to reach as many people as possible. I think it has a really important story to tell. The emotional response to it has really been incredible.
æ: Gay audiences seem to most love your Totally F***ed Up (1993, which begins the Teen Apocalypse Trilogy) and Nowhere (1997). Which film is your personal favourite and which will you like us (the Asian LGBT viewers) to watch most?
Gregg: I always love my most recent film the most, since it's the one that's closest to my heart. It's great though that Totally F***ed Up has such a devoted following here though ― I just digitally remastered that film, remixed the soundtrack and everything, so there is a brand new version for release on DVD ― including a bunch of extras like commentary tracks, the original presskit, and photos, etc. So that movie is also currently kind of fresh in my mind.
æ: Who and/or what are your main influences in filmmaking?
Gregg: I always write while listening to music, and music is my (and Scott Heim's) main source of inspiration. I am so excited about the score of Mysterious Skin. It was created by two of my all time idols ambient music legend Harold Budd and Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins. The score of Mysterious Skin is so much more than just background music; it's literally the soul and spirit of the film. These characters and this story were created listening to this kind of music.
Mysterious Skin is based on the widely acclaimed novel by Scott Heim which puts viewers inside the hearts and minds of two very different boys living very different lives who maybe aren't as different as they first appear. Stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brady Corbet, Michelle Trachtenberg, William Sage and Elisabeth Shue.
æ: Can you tell us a bit about "Creeeeps!"? Real aliens in the movie this time?
Gregg: My next film "Creeeeps!" Is my first real attempt at a genre movie ― a sci-fi horror film. The challenge is to make a truly scary and effective genre movie but at the same time, create a film of great style, ambition and directorial vision ― the way Hitchcock, Carpenter and Depalma have done in the past. I'm really excited about it.
æ: Does anything from your Asian roots come into your filmmaking?
Gregg: I'm a workaholic, is that "Asian"?
æ: Anything you would like to say or share with our readers about yourself or your films?
Gregg: Thanks for watching! I really appreciate my audience. Without people watching the movies and taking them into their hearts, my movies would no longer exist.
æ: What's the latest in your local gay scene?
Gregg: I don't really go out. I just work all the time. Boring.
æ: What inspires you?
Gregg: Music is really my main inspiration.
æ: What is the achievement you are most proud of?
Gregg: I love what I do. I love making movies. The fact that I get to do what I do, that's my greatest achievement.
æ: If you could do it all over again, what would you change?
Gregg: Nothing. I live a life of no regrets.
æ: How are you misunderstood?
Gregg: People think I'm an angry nihilistic punk rocker and I'm just a totally normal, ordinary guy. Boring.
æ: Tell us one of your fantasies?
Gregg: Just to continue making movies till I keel over dead.
æ: What about yourself would you like to change the most?
Gregg: Nothing really. Ok, maybe I'd like to be a couple inches taller (I'm 5'8")!
æ: What was the most important thing that happened to you in the last 12 months?
Gregg: Finishing Mysterious Skin and seeing people react to it. We've had people crying, being really moved. The best reaction I've heard is that people are so devastated by the film they can't even talk after it's through; they just need to be by themselves for a while. As a filmmaker, that's such a compliment. Because that's how the book affected me, it just broke my heart.
æ: What do you think is important in a relationship?
Gregg: Patience!
æ: What turns you on?
Gregg: The Mysterious Skin soundtrack album.
æ: What's your biggest guilty pleasure?
Gregg: I don't believe anything that gives pleasure should make me feel guilty. I don't really feel guilty very often.
æ: What is your vision for the gay community?
Gregg: That everyone just accept everyone. Tolerance basically.
æ: Tell us about a cause that you support?
Gregg: Getting us a new President.
æ: Who would your dream date be if you were straight (or gay) for a day?
Gregg: My boyfriend.
æ: Tell us something even your mother doesn't know.
Gregg: If you tell a secret, it's not a secret anymore is it?
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