American Psycho with Guinevere Turner

Today on Script Apart – one of cinema’s great monster movies. The terrifying creature at this movie’s core, though, didn’t have trailing tentacles, bloodshot eyes or reptilian skin. Instead of sharp teeth, it wore a sharp suit – Valentino pinstripe, perfectly pressed. This monster owned a gleaming Rolex, lived in an elegant condo and smiled politely through slap-up dinners with his fellow Wall Street sleazes. At night, he stalked the streets of New York, maiming sex workers and murdering the homeless, to a soundtrack of Huey Lewis and the News. And twenty-five years on, he’s arguably more fearsome than ever in his relevance to our own world. 

Yes, joining Al Horner for a metaphorical reservation at Dorsia this week is author, actress and screenwriter Guinevere Turner, who co-wrote American Psycho. Guinevere teamed up with someone who would become a long-time collaborator, director Mary Harron, to adapt Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial novel about a deranged investment banker named Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale).

In the spoiler conversation you’re about to hear, Guinevere tells me about the parts of herself she perhaps threaded into her and Mary's version of the story, either consciously or subconsciously – as revealed in her 2023 memoir, When The World Didn’t End, she grew up in a cult that promised followers they’d be whisked off in a spaceship to Venus, and there’s cult-like framing of money and materialism in American Psycho that perhaps was no accident. We get into her and Mary’s treatment of Patrick as an “alien who’s crash-landed to Earth,” learning to fit in through the pop culture he engages in. You’ll also hear about Bret Easton Ellis’s version of the film that ended with Patrick Bateman singing a musical tribute to New York, and what Guinevere’s take is on the upcoming remake, reported to be directed by Luca Guadagnino. 

For more from Guinevere, whose other work includes The L Word, Go Fish, The Notorious Bettie Page and 2018’s Charlie Says, pick up When The World Didn’t End, which is a great read – and head to our Patreon page! We’re running an exclusive series on our Patreon called One Writing Tip, in which great writers share one piece of advice they swear by that they think all emerging writers should know. And for more from us at Script Apart, hit subscribe if you haven’t already.

Script Apart is hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek. Follow us on Instagram, or email us on [e-mail].

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