Maupin adapted his novel into a feature film which stars his friend of 30 years, Robin Williams, in the role of Gabriel. Toni Collette co-stars as the adopted mother of Pete (Rory Culkin).
A difficult film to talk about without giving too much away, Maupin is happy about the film being described as a Hitchcockian thriller. In Maupin's words that means it's "something that’s creepy and suspenseful without necessarily being bloody."
A lot of authors have told me they’d rather have surgery without anesthesia than adapt their own work. What was the experience like for you?
“Actually, I compare it more to a colonoscopy. The degree of self-examination, especially when it’s an autobiographical work, is a little difficult. But I’ve always been able to detach myself enough from my work to see it as an act of entertainment and proceed accordingly.”
Isn’t it difficult to detach yourself from a story based on your own experiences?
“It’s not difficult to detach from the central mystery because I wasn’t nearly as obsessed as my character was. I had some inkling that I was in the middle of a huge scam; I was more fascinated by its story potential than anything else. I think that instinct, that storytelling instinct, rescued me most of my life. If I can get a good story out of it, there is some value to it. It wasn’t easy examining the more personal aspects of it having to do with my breakup, especially considering the fact that I asked my ex to join me in the process of writing the screenplay.”
That must have been a tough decision to make.
“It was a lot harder than I imagined it would be, let’s put it that way.
Harder for both of us, I might add.”
Was it made easier because of the distance in time from the actual breakup?
“Yeah, we’d been split for 10 years. That’s exactly right.”
It’s impossible to include everything from the book in the film. How hard was it to decide what to include and what to cut out when you were adapting your novel into a screenplay?
“Talking about adaptation, John le Carré said once that adapting a novel into a screenplay is like reducing an oxen into a bouillon cube. But I’m familiar with the process. I’m a great filmgoer, so I knew that it was going to be a different animal all together. I found it rather interesting to refine and clarify the story.”
Many of the conversations from the book between Gabriel and Pete didn’t make it into the feature film. Is there anything in particular you regret losing?
“I wish we could have used more than we used, but there is a certain conventional wisdom about filmmaking that says that long phone calls are taboo. I would have preferred to have had more of that, but the general feeling from the producers was that they wanted to make the film more active.”
How active were you in getting Robin Williams cast as Gabriel?
“Well I asked him to [do it]. He actually couldn’t… We had a hard time getting past his agent because this is a tiny little independent film that was offering a miniscule amount of money. His agent didn’t even want to pass it on to Robin so I called his house and spoke to his wife Marsha. She handed it to Robin. He called me three days later and said he thought it was wonderful and he’d love to do it.”
Did you have an actor in mind when you were adapting The Night Listener?
“Actually I pictured Robin for a very long time. I could imagine him as a radio storyteller – someone who seduced others with his voice late and night and who is bighearted enough to, in turn, be seduced by someone else.”
Robin Williams said he didn’t imitate you with this character and that it’s only 20% you.
“That’s probably safe to say. I certainly didn’t expect him to impersonate me in any way. His job is to play Gabriel Noone and he’s a separate creature from me. I consider myself much better adjusted than Gabriel (laughing).”
What was your reaction to seeing this character brought to life on the screen?
“I’ve always seen him as a character and not exactly me. I’ve used my own emotions to lend reality to the character, but I’ve always seen him as someone else. I, for instance, have never been a radio storyteller. I deliberately threw in enough differences to give myself some distance on it.”
Page 2: Armistead Maupin on the Real Woman and Letters Sent to the Set of The Night Listener
