John Waters doesn’t plan on making a movie any time soon, even if it’s been 15 years since his last feature, 2004’s A Dirty Shame. If the stories the 73-year-old cult filmmaker recounts in his latest book Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder are to be believed, Waters was fine with giving up negotiations with studios and producers.
While the back half of Waters’ memoir imparts that promised “tarnished wisdom” (music recommendations, how to deal with air travel and public speaking, drugs, etc.), the early chapters describe time spent making movies within the Hollywood system—after he scored a modest hit in 1988 with the surprisingly adaptable Hairspray—and watching his last three directorial efforts die at the box office. It’s dishy fun with plenty of behind-the-camera gossip and tales of screen legends like Tab Hunter, Traci Lords, Patricia Hearst, and Sam Waterston.
Waters has zero regrets. He’s made the campy, trashy films he wanted to make. He now makes a tidy living from his regular one-man shows. The biggest success on that front is his annual A John Waters Christmas, where he offers acerbic and naughty commentary on the holiday season.
In advance of his upcoming appearance at the Aladdin Theater on December 6, Waters spoke with the Mercury about his tour, his new book, and staying influential into your seventies.