Author: The JT LeRoy Story Page #2

---

as a boy.

And I talked

about this situation at home,

that there was

physical abuse going on

and inappropriate

sexual relationships.

And they were

so supportive and caring.

When I hung up the phone,

I felt relief.

[ Voice breaking ]

I don't understand it.

[ Crying ] All I know is it

worked, it was like magic.

It was f***ing incredible.

And I was very addicted to that.

Terminator had problems

with continuity,

so Dr. Owen suggested

that Terminator start to write.

What Terminator wrote was

completely different.

It really surprised me.

He wrote this piece called

"Babydoll."

LeRoy:
When Jesus died,

angels cried,

and their tears turned

to stones.

My hands tremble

as I pull out my thing,

leading me to hell.

Albert:
He sent it to Dr. Owens.

[ Fax machine dials ]

[ Fax machine beeps, whirs ]

And it was like...

a new world opened.

So, Dr. Owens and I found out

that Terminator's real name was

Jeremy.

And one day,

I had to get Dr. Owens

some of Jeremy's work.

And I rode all the way over

to the hospital.

Terminator is driving.

I'm pedaling, but he's driving.

So I get there.

They page Dr. Owens.

-Dr. Owens.

Albert:

I am so terrified.

I meet Dr. Owens,

and he asked me

what my name is.

And I just thought,

"How did I get here?

Really fast -- Speedie."

[ Laughs ]

That became my name.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

She was [British accent]

"Hello. I'm Speedie.

Nice to meet you."

[ Normal voice ]

She's British.

[ Click ]

[ Click ]

So Jeremy wanted

to be a better writer,

so I was reading everything,

everything

I can get my hands on.

And it just resonated

with everything that...

-[ Grunts, groans ]

-...lived inside me.

Boy:
[ Screams ]

And I used to pray not,

"God, please make me

a beautiful pretty girl."

It was, "Let me wake up

as a cute blond-haired,

blue-eyed boy --

a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy

that a man would love

and want to f***."

[ Telephone rings ]

Silverberg:
So,

this young person reached out.

There was a kooky factor.

[ Southern accent ] I mean,

when someone's talking like that

on the phone saying,

"I'm homeless,

and I need to get through

to Dennis Cooper.

and I'm walking around

with a fax machine."

It seemed perfect for Dennis,

and Dennis went for it.

[ Telephone rings ]

[ Receiver clicks, dial tone ]

Well I mean it was all, like,

you know,

"I love your book 'Try'."

It's my bible,

and I totally relate

to the character

who lets guys sexually use him.

[ Click ]

He would say

he was calling from --

Sometimes,

he said a public phone.

[ Coin rattles ]

Sometimes, he said

he was at a friend's,

and then eventually

the friend became Speedie.

There wasn't that much time

where Jeremy was homeless,

and eventually he got

this boyfriend, Astor.

So, you have

this cast of characters,

and suddenly I need Astor

to be Geoff.

[ Ding! ]

Because Astor didn't exist.

Astor was just

on the astral plane.

So, it came to pass

that Jeremy is now living

with Speedie and Astor

as a family.

[ Click ]

Being with my Barbies,

I controlled,

and it ordered the universe.

And my Barbie world was not

a happy world.

There's actually a photo

where I have them all lined up

naked with their butts

in the air.

And they're going

to be disciplined.

I'd make these really intense,

very intense stories.

My Barbies committed crimes

of rape

and assault

and child abuse.

They were injured,

and I could make them bleed.

They were given black eyes.

I had no idea

that the way I played

Barbie dolls wasn't normal.

[ Click ]

Gradually, the story

of Terminator began to come out.

[ Click, whir ]

He said that he was from

a Southern Baptist background

with sadistic,

fundamentalist grandparents.

[ Liquid splashes, boy screams ]

One of whom had made him bathe

in a bathtub of bleach.

It more gradually came out

that the AIDS that he had

was probably caught from

one of his mother's boyfriends

who had abused him.

And his high voice was

probably due to the fact

that his genitals

had been mutilated

so that he never went

into puberty.

[ Telephone rings ]

He finally succumbed

to my constant questions

by offering to send me photos.

They showed a rather attractive

blond boy of about 15.

And I actually framed them and

put them on my bookcase

with the pictures of my family

and of my lover.

At that point,

helping him develop as a writer

became a mission for me.

[ Tape player clicks ]

[ Tape player clicks ]

There's not a lot of discovery

in publishing anymore.

To hear a new voice

was exciting.

William Burroughs, Genet,

Allen Ginsberg --

all these people provided voices

to an alternative culture

and suddenly it seemed like

there was a torchbearer.

This was a homeless teenager

who was dealing with HIV,

just getting off the streets.

Someone, whose work spoke to

an aspect of American culture

I hadn't heard about before.

And it f***ing shouldn't.

I knew I still needed to write.

I still wanted to write.

But I wasn't gonna

f***ing write that sh*t.

And I didn't let them

publish the work.

You sure as f*** don't walk

away from a book deal.

And I did.

[ Page turns ]

I'm 32 years old,

and I'm pregnant.

And I'm still

talking to Dr. Owens,

but everything's shifting.

But Jeremy is still there.

And my body

has just betrayed him

in the ultimate f***ing way.

I am completely female.

I have given birth to

a baby boy who I'm nursing.

There is no hope in hell

that I'm ever gonna give

Jeremy the body

that he really, really wants.

'Cause my focus,

my number one priority,

is this baby.

Not him.

And then one day,

the door of willingness opened.

It was exactly

like watching a movie.

It was like a 1940's serial,

a cliff hanger.

I would only see

to the next road sign.

I was in the fog.

I'd get right up to that point.

Then I'd end it.

I didn't know where

it was going to go ever,

but it kept leading me,

and I would just

watch it unfold,

and it was so much fun.

[ Air brakes blow ]

[ Engine revs ]

[ Moaning ]

LeRoy:
I look up

and see the glowing aura

of the Holy Jackalope Shrine.

[ Gong sounds ]

[ Footsteps ]

Everyone closes their eyes

and makes their prayer for

a newfound libidinous powers.

[ Boing! ]

I reach down into my tube top,

grab my raccoon penis bone,

and clutch it tight.

Please, oh, divine jackalope.

I want to be a real lizard.

I want to earn a huge bone.

I finished writing the story,

and I don't know what it is.

I speak to the editor,

and he comes back to me

and he says,

"You wrote a novel."

Sarah came in

and it felt fully formed.

It was like Athena

emerging from Zeus' head.

It sounded like a vision sounds.

[ Tape player clicks ]

[ Tape player clicks ]

The book is very different

than the other

Terminator writing.

So we need a different name.

He doesn't want

to use his name, Jeremy,

so the editor suggests

using his initials --

Jeremy Terminator, JT.

Jeremy had a last name

from a phone sex client of mine,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes