SHORT TAKES : No New Divine in Waters’ Films
- Share via
NEW YORK — The death of his close friend and film star Divine moved director John Waters to ditch a technique he’d used in virtually all of his cult film.
“I will never have another man play a woman. Divine was irreplaceable,” said Waters, who cast the 300-pound Divine as the female lead in films from “Pink Flamingos” through “Hairspray.”
“He was almost a human animation. You can’t duplicate that,” Waters said of his longtime Baltimore sidekick in the April 30 issue of US magazine. Waters stayed true to his word in his current film “Cry Baby,” which stars Johnny Depp (as a man) and Amy Locane (as a woman).
Divine, who died in 1988, is not forgotten, Waters says. The director and some friends visited the cross-dressing actor’s grave in suburban Maryland just a few months back.
“We all went at Christmas and decorated a tree there. People left chocolate doughnuts there. It was great,” Waters recalled.
Only good movies
Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
