Based on one of the more surreal literary hoaxes to ever exist, the movie J.T. LeRoy gives Laura Dern and Kristen Stewart the opportunity to wear a lot of wigs and sunglasses and try to schmooze their way to fame. Dern plays Laura Albert, the woman who published books from the perspective of “Jeremiah ‘Terminator’ LeRoy,†supposedly a down-on-his-luck young southern hustler pimped out as a girl at truck stops by his mother. Albert then convinces her boyfriend’s sister Savannah Knoop (played by Kristen Stewart in the film, which is based on Knoop’s memoir) to pose as the fictional “J.T.†From there came book sales, celebrity, friendships with the movie stars of the time, and oh so many wigs. Albert was unmasked in a 2005 New York Magazine feature by Stephen Beachy, and was the subject of the recent documentary Author: The JT LeRoy Story. Now, she gets to be played by Lauren Dern, which means, between this and Can You Ever Forgive Me?, times are really good for literary scammers to get famous actresses to play them onscreen. J.T. LeRoy premieres April 26.
The J.T. LeRoy Trailer Has Wigs, Lies, Laura Dern, Wigs, Kristen Stewart, and More Wigs
