Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind by Gavin Edwards

Author:Gavin Edwards [Edwards, Gavin]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Biographies & Memoirs, Politics & Social Sciences, History & Criticism, Movies, Arts & Literature, Popular Culture, Actors & Entertainers, Biographies, Video, Actors & Actresses, Humor & Entertainment, Social Sciences, Movies & Video
ISBN: 9780062273154
Amazon: B00BATNNRM
Publisher: It Books
Published: 2013-10-21T18:30:00+00:00

RATHER THAN CHECK INTO A hotel, River stayed at Van Sant’s house during the shoot. Soon, much of the young male cast, including Reeves and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, had joined him, turning the house into a crash pad littered with futons and musical instruments. Overwhelmed by the number of guests, Van Sant moved out of his own home for the duration of the shoot.

Late-night parties and jam sessions became the rule. Reeves and Flea had brought their basses; River bought a handmade Irish guitar from a Portland music store. They were joined by Mike Parker, actor Scott Green (formerly a Portland street kid), editor Wade Evans, and sometimes Van Sant himself. They would get drunk and stoned in Van Sant’s garage, next to his BMWs, and then play what River called “sort of a fusion-funk Latin-jazz thing.”

Parker, who typically manned a drum machine in the garage band, said, “River would just start playing these tribal rhythms on guitar and he’d go into a trance. We’d play these amazing jams that would last for three hours without stopping.” River and Flea were the stalwarts, and their love of music became the cornerstone of their friendship.

Blissed out, River would close his eyes while he played, and block out the rest of the world. He delighted in playing to the point of exhaustion, when he would fall asleep holding his guitar.

As it happened, River had learned about inappropriate slumber for the movie: his character suffered from narcolepsy, meaning that he would fall asleep abruptly, especially in stressful situations. River spent some time with a narcoleptic friend of Van Sant’s, discussing how and why his “fits” happened, and the lucid-dreaming hyperreal quality of the ensuing sleep. River never saw an actual fit, but Van Sant declared his simulations of them to be just like the genuine article.

River also spent a lot of time on the Portland streets to prepare for the role, learning tricks of the trade: for example, giggling nervously can entice older guys on a power trip. According to Parker, there were two basic types of hustler: the glamorous ones and the unbathed grunge boys. River opted for the latter: “a definite pickup on the street,” opined Parker.

Green served as tour guide to River and Reeves in the “Vaseline Alley” district, where they watched boys as young as twelve get into cars for forty-dollar “dates.” Green would even get into johns’ cars to haggle out a deal, with River following him to see how it was done. Sometimes, River would enter the negotiation himself, Green said. “But after we agreed to the deal, I’d say, ‘I’m sorry. We can’t do this.’ And we’d jump out of the car leaving these guys wondering what the hell was going on.”

One potential customer didn’t take the rejection well. He kept circling the block, yelling at them, “But I’m so lonely!”

To immerse himself further in the role, River started experimenting with hard drugs. He was friendly with Matt Ebert, a former street kid who acted as a production assistant on both Dogfight and My Own Private Idaho.

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