Feb 27
John Waters Returns to Moviemaking with Adaptation of 'Liarmouth' Starring 'White Lotus' Alum Aubrey Plaza
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Out gay filmmaker John Waters, the creator of classics like "Pink Flamingos" and "Hairspray," is returning to moviemaking after a 20-year hiatus with an adaptation of his own 2022 novel, "Liarmouth."
The film is set to star "White Lotus" actor Aubrey Plaza, according to UK newspaper the Guardian. "Shooting is set to begin later this year in Baltimore, Maryland, Waters' home city, and perennial location for his films," the newspaper account detailed.
"Subtitled 'A Feel-Bad Romance' and described by its publishers as a 'hilariously filthy tale of sex, crime, and family dysfunction,' 'Liarmouth' centers on a scammer and compulsive liar called Marsha Sprinkle who splits from her partner Daryl and steals from both her daughter and her mother," the writeup said.
"The project was first announced in 2022 but appears to have been delayed by the writers' and actors' strikes."
Waters' last completed film was 2004's "A Dirty Shame," which, the Guardian recalled, received poor reviews. A movie intended to follow that up, "Fruitcake," never came to fruition.
Still, "Waters' profile was buoyed by a successful Broadway adaptation of 'Hairspray,' his teen rock'n'roll musical released in 1988," the Guardian recalled, before adding that the stage musical spawned another movie version – a musical starring John Travolta in the role previously inhabited by frequent Waters collaborator and drag artist Divine, who died in 1988.
Waters has kept busy with a number of non-film projects, including his solo show "This Filthy World," as well as having hosted a televised film series called "John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You" (2006), appearing as an actor in a number of films and television series, and authoring a number of books apart from "Liarmouth," including "Role Models" (2010), "Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America" (2014), "Make Trouble" (2017), and "Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder" (2019).
Waters was awarded his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last year.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
