If you were looking for stars at opening night of the Toronto Film Festival at a time when there aren’t that many available, they were at the world premiere of Gonzo Girl, with four-time Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe and director-star Patricia Arquette receiving a standing ovation Thursday at the Royal Alexandria theater.
Arquette was drawn to Cheryl Della Pietra’s novel about author’s tortured yet creative time as Hunter S. Thompson’s assistant because she was a die-hard fan of the gonzo journalist. But it was more than that.
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Arquette was also fascinated with the ’90s backdrop, and the notion of one being lost in the celebrity. Also, themes of “what is the commodity of beauty? (It was) a look at the nebulous nature of addiction and co-dependency and how your move through your boundaries,” she said in introducing the film.
“This is theme of my life. Tada!” exclaimed Arquette.
“I thought it was interesting to be an artist and trapped in your own celebrity,” said Arquette. “The world wants to keep you in that box and doesn’t want you to break out.”
“When does co-dependency go to the max?…When is it you’ve done so many years of self-abandonment? I thought it was interesting to see that that gambit,” she said.
The pic reps Arquette’s feature directorial debut. Originally, she was asked to play the role of Claudia when it was under a different director. She passed initially, as it didn’t seem the right time to play that role. Then her agent told producers Tom Heller and Frank Green that Arquette wanted to direct. When the pic’s original director fell out, Arquette stepped in. She was set on fresh face Camila Morrone to play the lead protagonist of Alley Russo, aka Pietra’s doppelganger.
Morrone auditioned by tape and didn’t get a response for two months, thinking the role was gone — until she was offered the part on her birthday. Meanwhile, Arquette shot the movie in 21 days.
Gonzo Girl is one of many titles here at TIFF to secure a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement, hence Arquette and the cast’s presence tonight.
Interesting to note: The moderator at the start of tonight’s Q&A made a specific ask to those audience members asking questions to the cast: Please refrain from referencing struck work or struck companies.
Sales agents on Gonzo Girl are WME and Gersh.
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