Cheryl Della Pietra’s Gonzo Girl is headed to the big screen, with actor Patricia Arquette directing, Deadline reports.
Della Pietra’s autobiographical novel, published in 2015 by Touchstone, follows Alley Russo, who takes a job as an assistant to Walker Reade, a troubled author with a taste for alcohol, drugs, and guns. Reade is a stand-in for famed gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, for whom Della Pietra worked in 1992. A critic for Kirkus called the book “a novel that shows our nation's path from refreshing nonconformity to end-times careerism.”
In a 2015 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Della Pietra said that the character of Reade was “a little more complex” than the image of Thompson that the general public saw.
“There was the person who would put on the Tilley hat and aviators and go out to the restaurant with the big cigarette holder, but I hope that I’ve also shown the moments where he’s more contemplative, where he’s more insecure, where he was raging—and the moments where he was a sweetheart,” she said.
The adaptation will be Arquette’s film directing debut; she’ll also produce and act in the feature. Camila Morrone, who’s set to star in the upcoming Amazon Prime miniseries adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones & the Six, will play Russo in the movie, while Reade will be portrayed by Willem Dafoe (Platoon, Mississippi Burning).
Morrone shared news of the adaptation on Instagram, with a caption featuring Thompson’s most iconic quote: “Buy the ticket, take the ride.”
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
