THE RAGE MONTHLY RECENTLY INTERVIEWED TIMONER VIA PHONE ABOUT HER FILM.
Can you talk about the process of making your film? I originally optioned the rights to a script by Bruce
Goodrich. In exploring [Mapplethorpe’s] life, I learned how he comes into his art and that led him into his sexuality. His art was the bridge to this life that he saw as beautiful. No matter how you feel about some of his controversial choices, like knowingly infecting people with AIDS, he lived his life authentically and there is beauty in that.
How was your collaboration with Matt Smith? He’s fantastic, an incredible artist and also a serious
Director and co-writer Ondi Timoner (far right) on the set of Mapplethorpe, The Director’s Cut
intellect. Originally, James Franco was cast but my then- 9-year-old son, who was a Doctor Who fan, suggested Matt. [Matt and I] had lots of debates on set about every little thing I’d written. He was so right for the part, jaw- dropping. We shot the whole movie in 19 days and started at the end of Mapplethorpe’s life. Matt had to lose weight before we began shooting. He remains a good friend and an ally to this day. My son actually hit it off with Matt and they’re still friends.
Did you receive any reaction to the film from Map- plethorpe’s brother Edward — who is also a photogra- pher — or other family or friends? I did. I didn’t have any help from Robert’s brother while
making it, but Matt and I met to tour the Guggenheim Museum one day and coincidentally bumped into Edward. He said he loved the film! Robert’s last assistant, Brian English, also saw and loved it.
You are primarily a documentarian, but do you plan to make other narrative films? Yes, I actually have a script I’ve written about my father’s
[Eli Timoner] meteoric rise and life called A Stroke of Genius. He founded Air Florida. He passed away recently but I was able to spend his final weeks with him and went through the script page by page with him. He had a stroke when I was 9. It’s another movie set primarily in the 1970s, like Mapplethorpe.
Ondi Timoner on the set of Mapplethorpe, The Director’s Cut
That sounds great! What would you say is the most important legacy of Mapplethorpe’s work or life? I think that, hopefully, one can see the poignancy in him living truthfully, to see the price he paid for that but also the value of that. His legacy is the beauty of his work. That will never end. He made photography a collectible art form, and he helped to advance the LGBTQ movement through his art. Thirty-two years after his death, on March 9, 1989, Robert Mapplethorpe’s influence undeniably lives on!
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ragemonthly.com | APRIL 2021
Chris Carpenter has been writing about entertainment since 1996 and a member of Team Rage since 2012. He is a founding member and vice president emeritus of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.
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