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Eric Wilkinson, Jennifer Lynch and David Michaels. Photograph by Egan O'Keefe
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A Fall From Grace will not just be the latest big-budget feature to be filmed in St. Louis, explained director Jennifer Lynch, co-writer/co-producer Eric Wilkinson, and head producer David Michaels at a reception at the CWE’s Scape restaurant courtyard last Saturday night, sponsored by Mastermind Vodka. Lynch is the daughter of the legendary director David Lynch, and they share a taste for dark, intense themes. The film, scheduled to begin shooting in the fall, concerns a troubled police detective (to be played by Tim Roth) and his search for a serial killer. We haven’t seen that kind of bleakness in a locally shot Hollywood film since Escape From New York, perhaps.
That’s quite the coincidence, as it turns out. The final scene from John Carpenter’s post-apocalyptic opus was shot on the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, long before it was fixed up and changed into a rustic pedestrian bridge. It was the 1991 double-murder of two sisters on that very span that originally inspired Granite City native Wilkinson to pen the moody script.
The filmmakers are eager to begin shooting all over the Bi-State area, from the Cathedral Basilica to an obscure Metro East dive called the Robin’s Nest—and that’s the other special thing about this project. They plan to capture so much local flavor that St. Louis, they said, will practically be another character in the film. We sat down with the filmmakers on Saturday night to chat, before getting the first look at the teaser-trailer of the film, which you can watch here:
A FALL FROM GRACE | a JENNIFER LYNCH film | Teaser Trailer | Narrated by Bill Pullman from David Michaels on Vimeo.
Tell me about your interest in filming in St. Louis. I understand you’ve been around the city scouting out locations.
Jennifer Lynch: St. Louis seems to be as much a ghost as it is a newborn, if you will. There is so much history here, over decades and centuries, and you have it all—the industry and the farmland, the rivers and bridges, the wealth and poverty. And around every corner is something that evokes a story. This is one of the finest cities I have ever been in my life. It’s horrible, beautiful, scary, poor, rich…And the people are so kind and genuine. St. Louis reminds me of Canada; being under a big sky is humbling. In L.A., it always looks like a set. People become too secure that they’re in control, and they’re not—it’s a myth. We’re all at the mercy of the planet.
What locations interest you, in particular?
The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, the power plants, Soulard, Cathedral Basilica… I’m a big fan of Brooklyn, Illinois, and a hidden-away bar called the Robin’s Nest. You gotta go. It’s the most surreal place in the world.
You have plans to cast St. Louis native Cedric the Entertainer as, in a description offered by Eric Wilkinson, “an apathetic coroner who eats potato chips and soda while wheeling out a dead body.”
He’s excited to play a darker character, and he’s excited about getting to be brave with this role in his hometown. I had my first conversation with him about two days ago. What a gentleman. What a smart, funny man. There’s a performer in him he hasn’t gotten a chance to showcase, and I’m really excited to be a part of that. Don’t forget, the comedian is the most tortured person in the room.
So wait, Fall From Grace is what, your third film about a serial killer?
Yeah. I’ve always been fascinated with them. When I was 7, my father ripped the book I was reading out of my hands. It was my dog-eared copy of Helter Skelter. He said, “Jennifer, there is light, and there is darkness, and this is evil!” And then he pitched it across the yard. I think what worried him was how dog-eared it was. I think I was on my fifth read! I told him, “I like it. It’s my book.” If I could have another job, I would have been a forensic pathologist—or a mechanic. I like looking inside things. I really don’t have a preoccupation with evil or horror; I have a fascination with people who are ridiculed, feared, and hurt. Serial killers are people who made different choices than I did. I’m shocked to be considered a horror director. My dad said to me not long ago, “What’s with all these horror films?” We don’t agree on that one.
Your dad used you as an actor for the cult classic Eraserhead. Do you have memories of that?
Sure, but the scene I was in was cut out of the film. He cut me out of Blue Velvet, too. My dad likes to do that to me! [Laughs]. I was filmed digging dimes out of the ground in an alley. It was cut out, but I am in the credits as “Little Girl.” You know, Eraserhead was based on a nightmare my father had when he found out my mother was pregnant with me. So I may not be in the film, but, hey, I sort of am the film.
What was your life like while your dad was making Twin Peaks? [Jennifer wrote the TV series’ companion book, The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer.]
It was all very normal for me. At first I was ridiculed, because I had weird artist parents and we were very poor, and we wore the same clothes all the time. Then my dad became successful, and I was adored, and I saw what B.S. it all was. When Twin Peaks blew up, my dad said, “Remember when you told me when you were 12 that you hoped you could find a girl’s diary to see if she was feeling the same way you were? Well, you want to write Laura’s diary?” I said, “F***, yes!”
Do people assume you had a “Lynchian” childhood?
I’m not even sure what that means. I had a very exciting and good and f*****-up and joyous and terrifying childhood, like everybody else. I was given the freedom to pursue my own ideas.
You have siblings?
I have two brothers, and I’m about to have a baby sister. We all have different moms, and we’re all the spitting image of Dad – good hair, and round little faces.
And your mom is a painter.
Yes, check out her work at peggyreavey.com. She’s incredibly good at combining what look like childhood drawings with dark themes.
You had a noted 15-year-gap between directing Boxing Helena as a teenager, and your next film. I understand that was because of a health issue.
When I was 19, I was violently rear-ended by another car, at a crosswalk, by a guy driving a Jaguar. I actually saw him bend down in his car to get something right before he hit me. My life was basically saved by my seat belt. The car was totaled, and the accident basically reversed every curve in my spine. The spine degenerated over the years, and by the time my daughter was born, I was in excruciating pain. It wound up taking three surgeries and a spinal fusion to give me back great movement, but not full movement. I’m just happy to be walking now. But it wasn’t just the accident that interrupted my directing career for 15 years—it was years of being a single mom. By the time my daughter Sid was 12, I was back to work on Surveillance. But between my back and raising a child, I was just focused on those things for a while. Actually, I was still writing and producing other people’s films during that time, just not directing.
The trailer for your latest, Chained, makes it look absolutely terrifying. Vincent D’Onofrio, in particular, looks terrifying.
He was willing to go anywhere I asked him. He’s so unafraid. The movie is about the human monster. That’s something I tend to investigate; how does the darkness begin? I do provide an explanation for where that rage comes from in the film. Hopefully, explaining it doesn’t excuse the behavior, though.
Chained is the subject of controversy. The MPAA gave it the dreaded NC-17 rating, and asked you to change it if you wanted an R rating.
Yes, I was forced to make cuts, and sadly, that was a process so expensive that it may have destroyed the budget for a director’s cut of the film. The MPAA told me, “You made an amazing film, but it feels too real.” I wanted it to feel real. It should be horrifying. An L.A. Times writer said I was being punished for being authentic. Ultimately, it was one scene where I had to paint out some blood. It’s so absurd. Saw and Hostel are both rated R. I also wanted the film to be called Rabid, but people would be surprised—the title of the film is a decision ultimately made by the distributor. I could have final approval of the title of a film someday if I make more money, or if I grow a penis, maybe. I hope to do a definitive director’s cut someday.
Your struggle in India to make the film Hisss, about a mythical snakewoman, was so intense it inspired a Heart of Darkness-style documentary about the process, called Despite the Gods.
It was supposed to be a two-month shoot. It was 9 1/2 months. Everything that could go wrong went wrong, from cyclones to unbelievable delays. I didn’t get dailies ‘til day 11. The Indian crews didn’t understand the concept of continuity. If a pregnant woman walked into a room, she might walk into the next room not-pregnant. I didn’t know I was going into all that. It was very traumatizing. Then I went home, lost control of the film, and gained 65 pounds. It was so cut up and changed by the producer… I hate it. Don’t see it. It’s not my film. Now, India is magical, though. The people are magical. They have a love of cinema that goes way beyond anything we have in the U.S. My friend Sherilyn Fenn told me, “I think you went to India not to make the feature, but ultimately, to make the documentary.” That changed my whole view of the experience; it redeemed it.
Hey, that’s a great way to look at it.
It is. Ultimately, it feels so good to create something new, that didn’t exist yesterday. And these days, you can make a good film for 30 bucks. I just want to tell stories, and if I need to do that in my backyard with sock puppets, I will. [Laughs.] I think the best thing I can do during that process is say, “I’m afraid,” and then keep going. I often get caught up in the trap of “I’m not good enough” and “This won’t work.” I just have to be brave and humble enough to say “I’m terrified.” But you know what? I don’t want to fight human nature—I want to accompany it, and take that journey. You know, kids don’t understand “I am not good enough” or “I am not smart enough.” They see the world with clarity and hope. That’s why I had the child in “Surveillance” figure out the mystery before the other characters. She wasn’t preoccupied with the B.S. that adults are. I’m always trying to be more like a child, and I feed off other people who are the same.
Later that night, SLM talked to co-writer and producer Eric Wilkinson and Producer David Michaels:
SLM: You wrote the first draft of A Fall From Grace, and it was partly inspired by the rape and murder of two sisters on the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge in 1991.
Eric Wilkinson: A Fall From Grace was born from a walk I took across that bridge. I felt the ghosts talking to me there. Later, I talked with Jeanine Cummins, the author of A Rip in Heaven, (http://www.amazon.com/Rip-Heaven-Memoir-Murder-Aftermath/dp/0451210530) and I wanted to get the rights to that book, and we talked about what these monsters did, and how the media mishandled everything, too. Ricki Lake did this stupid thing and had one of the assailants on her talk show, where he acted like a victim. I told Cummins I had honest intentions, and I wanted her to be an executive producer, too, with approval power, but she did not agree to give me the rights. But she has contacted me about the film. I think she knows at this point the script goes well beyond that crime; it has changed. Now, it’s about the haunting energy of that bridge. Go on it at night, and it’s creepy. In the teaser-trailer that’s actually Jennifer’s daughter Sid running across that bridge, covered in mud and blood.
Tell us about the lead, the police detective to be played by Tim Roth.
EW: He’s a St. Louis homicide detective who lives in Soulard, and he’s broken, distraught, struggling with his own demons as well as the problem of finding who’s killing young girls in the city. He gets really close, but he misses the killer. The killer actually shoots him at one point, and lets him live. He toys with him.
Producer David Michaels: The detective is self-destructive; maybe even suicidal. His relationship with the killer is different; the killer is breaking him down. Tim Roth agreed to play the role after having the script for less than 24 hours.
EW: The detective has a brother who’s an important character, and Jennifer originally wrote this draft with Tim Roth and Gary Oldman in mind, as brothers. There’s still a possibility Oldman many come to St. Louis to play the part. Oldman and Roth are old friends.
You’re excited about filming in St. Louis?
EW: Yeah – St. Louis is an untapped resource. What have they done? Chevy Chase getting his hubcaps stolen here in Vacation? George Clooney doing a monologue outside of Lambert Field in Up in the Air? How about the MLK Bridge? The Eads Bridge? The Cathedral Basilica? Laclede’s Landing? The Arch? Soulard? Jen loves Cementland. This city has barely been used in a real film, and with A Fall From Grace, you’ll see what can be done.
When will you start filming?
EW: In the fall or winter, hopefully.
According to your IMDb page, you have martial-arts skills, including knife-fighting?
EW: Yeah, but I’m not that person anymore. I was a Marine. The part of me that was a Marine is still in me: always keep fighting and pushing through. After I left the Corps, I trained with Bruce Lee’s right-hand man. I got really into martial arts, hand-to-hand combat and work with blades. They teach you how to kill. It can be hard to turn that switch off. I was getting in a lot of fights. I had to stop. There’s that darkness. Jennifer and I are both drawn to dark subject matter.
Guests joined St. Louis Magazine, Mastermind Vodka and WCSA Productions in the courtyard of scape for an exclusive red-carpet event launching the teaser trailer of "A Fall From Grace", a Jennifer Lynch film starring Academy Award nominee Tim Roth. Photos by Egan O'Keefe
