August: Osage County won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as the 2008 Tony award for Best Play. It was never writer Tracy Letts' intention to make it into a film. The story focuses on the dysfunctional Weston family, led by their pill-popping matriarch Violet (played by Meryl Streep). A family crises brings them back to the family farm in rural Oklahoma for several weeks of chaos. Letts talks about transitioning the piece from stage to screen, which he's done twice before with his plays Bug and Killer Joe (both directed by William Friedkin). He talks about the controversial scene in Killer Joe for which he was accused of misogyny. Plus, how the grittiness of Chicago theatre continues to inspire his work.
Note: This interview contains explicit description of certain situations that may be inappropriate for young audiences.
Banner image courtesy of the Weinstein Company