So I’ve been a fan of Joe Eszterhas since I was a girl. And I really mean it. I snuck into a market town backstreet cinema aged just twelve to see BASIC INSTINCT. I paid a pound for the privilege. The ushers didn’t even raise an eyebrow, even though I was patently underage: it was a Wednesday night and there were three people there, besides me.
Regardless, I was so worried about getting thrown out I sat at the back: known locally as “The Flea Pit”, its naysayers weren’t exaggerating. I sat on slashed seats that smelled of pee and beer; I was ankle-deep in chip papers, burgers & drinks cartons, not to mention a dried-on splash of puke. I was also seated behind a bloke who was doing shall we say something rude to himself. I nearly had a heart attack – and that’s before I even saw the movie.
Far too young to watch such a film, I came away in a whirlwind of confusion and intrigue. I got it out on video a few months later and watched it again. And again. From there – and more than a little in love with Sharon Stone – I watched SLIVER. As I realised how important female characters were to Eszterhas (no cardboard cut-outs here, but rounded women with real issues, thoughts and desires), I graduated to MUSIC BOX, BETRAYED and JADE.
So really, you can credit Eszterhas not only for my interests in Thrillers, but female characters too. And I’m sure he’d get a laugh out of my online persona – BANG2write, indeed. That’s why I was delighted to meet him at LondonSWF 2013 as I couldn’t wait to ask him all kinds of questions, including:
1) You say in your book, THE DEVIL’S GUIDE TO HOLLYWOOD, you got “pigeon holed” as a raunchy writer. If you could have your time over and still gain the same success, what would you have written instead?
We often admire professional writers, imagining that they automatically feel satisfied with their lot. And why wouldn’t we? They’ve “made it”; they’re where we want to be. But the reality is, most of those successful screenwriters still have unrealized dreams too. I’d love to know what Eszterhas’ answer would be to this question.
2) How did getting cancer affect your life journey?
I ask all cancer survivors this question, as one myself. Never once has anyone said, “It hasn’t. I learnt nothing about myself or life from the experience of being so ill.” Having had throat cancer as a result of a lifetime of smoking, Joe has been very eloquent on this subject and how he wishes he could turn the clock back, so smoking is not glamorized in his movies, but I would like to know if anything has changed on a deeply personal or philosophical level for him about how he views life, as it has for me.
3) What does “good and commercial” mean, in screenwriting?
Eszterhas famously said that “all” it takes to be a successful screenwriter is to sell a script – and that if you can write something “good and commercial” and people think they can make money from it, then you’re “in” in Hollywood.
Yet of course “good” is subject to personal POV and “commercial” is subject to change and/or the time you’re actually you’re trying to break in.
So I would like Eszterhas to imagine to he’s starting out again as a screenwriter, looking to get on the Hollywood ladder RIGHT NOW. With all the movies that have been made and all the technological advances and different platforms, what would he write about? And would he necessarily go the same route – or would he perhaps be an indie filmmaker, writing and directing his own stuff? Or would he be a Youtube and social media star? Or something else? My mind boggles!
Lucy V. Hay is a script editor, author and blogger who helps writers. She’s been the script editor and advisor on numerous UK features and shorts & has also been a script reader for 20 years, providing coverage for indie prodcos, investors, screen agencies, producers, directors and individual writers. Lucy is also an author, publishing as both LV Hay and Lizzie Fry.
