Dodgeball director Rawson Marshall Thurber
brings a bisexual love triangle to Park City with his
adaptation of Michael Chabon's first novel, The
Mysteries of Pittsburgh.
Though straight
writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber made his feature
debut with the goofy Dodgeball: A True Underdog
Story, his follow-up is something very different
entirely -- an adaptation of Pulitzer
Prize–winner Michael Chabon’s first novel,
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. Beloved for its
forthright, literate presentation of a bisexual love
triangle among college-age bohemians, the book
languished in development until Thurber’s
radical adaptation got the green light. I talked to Thurber
on the eve of the film’s premiere at the
Sundance Film Festival to find out how he talked
Chabon into his revision, and whether he’s worried
about how fans might react.
Other directors (such as Alan J. Pakula) have tried
to bring this book to the screen. One attempt, staring
Jason Schwartzman, almost made it to shooting. How
did you get ahold of the project?
I knew that it
had been around for a while—I read the book in 1995
and fell in love with it. I wrote Michael Chabon a fan
letter, essentially saying, “I love this book,
I love your writing, and I’d love to take you
to breakfast to talk about it.” He’s
represented by the same agency as I am, so I flew up
to the Bay Area -- where I’m from -- and we went to
this local joint up there, had some eggs, and I
expressed my passion for it.
Was he receptive?
You know, Michael
Chabon is just about the coolest Pulitzer
Prize–winning author you’ll ever meet.
He had tried to adapt it before -- it was the first
script he’d ever written, and he kind of ran into a
tree. I think the novel had gotten this rap for being
unadaptable.
I know you had a very different take on how to
adapt the book. How did you sell him on it?
I knew what I
wanted to do, and I told him, “I’ve got a
pretty radical take on it, and if you’re at all
interested, let me do a five-or six-page treatment. If
you’re interested in that, let’s go do it, and
if you’re not, please say so, and I’m a
big fan and I can’t wait to read the next
thing.” I wrote it up and sent if off, and I never
thought he would say yes, actually, but then he read
it and he sent me an e-mail back saying,
“It’s great -- let’s do
it.”
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