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Gus Van Sant on his new recovery movie ‘Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get That Far on Foot’
Out director reunited with Joaquin Phoenix for Amazon Prime movie, originally a Robin Williams vehicle
Despite a long and distinguished career as a writer and director, out filmmaker Gus Van Sant remains somewhat of a Hollywood enigma.
He’s been openly gay for decades, yet remains a little reclusive and guards his private life carefully. He didn’t start making movies (and didn’t come out) until his 30s. Unlike other LGBT celebrities in Hollywood, he says his coming out probably didn’t have a big impact on his career.
“I don’t know, actually,” Van Sant says in a Blade phone interview. “You can never really tell. I’m sure it has affected some things, but none that I can see.”
Van Sant’s sexuality also does not seem to have directly impacted his work as a filmmaker.
“I’ve done lots of different types of stories,” he says.
While he’s often cited as one of the founders of the New Queer Cinema movement, not all of his movies have LGBT characters or themes.
While certain themes (alienation, isolation and unrequited love) and character types (loners, hustlers and thieves) keep popping up in his work, his movies have covered a dizzying array of subjects and styles. They range from mainstream Oscar contenders like “Milk,” “Finding Forrester” and “Good Will Hunting” to indies and cult classics like “To Die For,” “Drugstore Cowboy” and “My Own Private Idaho,” and to esoteric art house fare like “Promised Land” and “The Sea of Trees” that were openly jeered when they opened at European festivals like Cannes.
Despite some bankable stars and funding from Amazon Studios, Van Sant’s latest movie, “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot,” now available on Amazon Prime, seems destined to be one of his cult classics. When the movie was released last summer, it received positive reviews, but failed to find an audience in a crowded release schedule.
“Don’t Worry” is based on the memoir of the same name by quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan (1951-2010). Callahan became a quadriplegic at the age of 21 as the result of a car accident following a night of bar hopping. Callahan’s friend, who was driving, walked away without a scratch. Callahan would never walk again.
After years of AA meetings and physical therapy, Callahan became sober and gained partial use of his arms. He learned to draw by holding a pen between both hands. His sense of humor was very dark and his drawing was often rough and simple; his work is reminiscent of artists like Gahan Wilson, Charles Addams, William Steig and James Thurber. His cartoons were published by the Willamette Week newspaper in Portland, Ore., and often resulted in boycotts and protests against the paper.
Van Sant became aware of Callahan’s memoir through his friend Robin Williams who played the wily therapist in “Good Will Hunting” (1997).
“Robin Williams had optioned the book and wanted to play John Callahan,” Van Sant says. “In the ’90s, I developed a couple of screenplays for him, but by the time a final script was ready, he chose to do other projects.”
Van Sant is not sure why Williams never played Callahan.
“Possibly he thought this one was too risky. Thinking of his career, he needed to play it safe. Or he might not have liked the script. Or he might not have known how to approach the character.”
After Williams’ tragic suicide in 2014, Van Sant returned to Callahan’s story.
“I started over after Robin’s death. The original script was focused on Callahan’s search for his lost mother. He had a lifelong obsession with finding her (and) would drive around looking for her.”
All he knew about her was that she was a red-haired Irish Catholic schoolteacher who gave him up for adoption when he was born. Callahan did discover her name, but never located her.
Van Sant refocused the story on Callahan’s efforts to reclaim his life after the accident.
“It’s an alcohol recovery movie,” he says. “I tried to match up some of the ideas of the Twelve Steps to things that happened in his life.”
The final script tells Callahan’s redemption story in a fluid non-linear fashion that freely moves back and forth between his life before and after the accident.
“I tried to keep things logically and thematically connected so that audiences wouldn’t get lost,” the filmmaker says.
Van Sant also decided to highlight the character of Donny, the openly gay man who was Callahan’s AA sponsor. The deep friendship between a straight man and a gay man, free of sexual tension, is something not often seen in mainstream movies.
“According to Callahan’s book,” Van Sant says, “John really credited him with saving his life. Donny was a gay man in Portland, Oregon from a wealthy family. We couldn’t locate his family, but we know he died in 1985 or so. He’s sort of lost to history.”
To play the challenging role of John Callahan, Van Sant turned to his old friend Joaquin Phoenix. Van Sant had directed Phoenix in his break-out role of the delightfully dim-witted Jimmy Emmett in “To Die For” (1995). A close friend of the Phoenix family, Van Sant had also directed Joaquin’s brother River in “My Own Private Idaho” (1991) and sister Rain in “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” (1993).
Joaquin Phoenix had started his Hollywood career as a child actor with appearances in “Murder, She Wrote,” “Hill Street Blues” and other television series, including an ABC Afterschool Special.
“He had also made some movies when he was younger, most notably ‘Parenthood’ and ‘Space Camp,’ but after that he decided to quit acting. By the time I worked with him, he was 20 and newly coming back to acting.”
“To Die For” was a success for both star and director, but Van Sant and Phoenix didn’t get the chance to work together again until “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot.”
“It was over 20 years between our movies together,” Van Sant says. “By then he had done so many giant things in different movies. He was a very outstanding, developed actor.”
Working together again was interesting, Van Sant says, “because he was way more experienced and yet he was still somebody I knew as a friend. It was sometimes funny.”
Van Sant rounded out the cast of “Don’t Worry …,” with a combination of rising stars and Hollywood veterans. He cast Jonah Hill in the pivotal role of Callahan’s sponsor Donny. Rooney Mara (“Carol”) plays Callahan’s girlfriend Annu; Carrie Brownstein (“Portlandia”) is Callahan’s frustrated caseworker; and Jack Black is Dexter, the drunk driver who was behind the wheel when Callahan suffered his life-changing injuries.
There are also delightful performances from the members of Callahan’s support group, including Beth Ditto, Udo Kier, Kim Webber, Mark Gordon and especially Ronnie Adrian as Martingale, a gay artist who recites his poetry about penises.
After watching “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot” on Amazon Prime, it may be time to schedule a Gus Van Sant retrospective.
Every LGBT movie fan should see “Milk,” the rousing and insightful biopic of assassinated gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Star Sean Penn and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black won Oscars for their work. Van Sant was nominated for Best Director and the film was nominated for Best Picture.
After that, a Van Sant retrospective is a matter of personal taste.
In the mainstream mode, there’s “Good Will Hunting” which introduced Van Sant to Robin Williams, who won an Oscar for his bravura performance, and made stars of newcomers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who won Oscars for their screenplay. Van Sant was nominated for Best Director but did not win.
The delightfully campy thriller “To Die For” helped introduce American audiences to Nicole Kidman, She plays an aspiring television personality who enlists two hormonal teens (Joaquin Phoenix and Matt Dillon) to help her in her schemes. The final image of Kidman is a haunting one.
Loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Henry IV,” the queer classic “My Own Private Idaho” stars Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix as hustlers struggling to survive on the streets of Portland (Van Sant’s adopted hometown and a frequent setting for his movies).
The Van Sant retrospective can include some of the music videos he’s directed for artists like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elton John, Tracy Chapman, Chris Isaak, k.d. lang and some of the Beat Poets.
What’s next? Van Sant says he’s “working on a screenplay, but there’s nothing ready to shoot yet.”
a&e features
Memorial for groundbreaking bisexual activist set for May 2
Loraine Hutchins remembered as a ‘force of nature’
The Montgomery County Pride Center will host a celebration honoring the life and legacy of Loraine Hutchins, Ph.D., on May 2. People are invited to attend the onsite memorial or a livestream event. The on-site event will begin at 10 a.m. with a meet-and-greet mixer before moving into a memorial service around the theme “Loraine a Force of Nature!” at 11 a.m., a panel talk at 12 p.m., break out sessions for artists, academics, and activists to build on her legacy at 1 p.m. and a closing reception at 2 p.m.
Attendees are encouraged to register for the on-site memorial gathering or the livestreamed memorial. The goal of this event is also to collect stories and memories of Loraine. Attendees and others can share their stories at padlet.com.
An obituary for Hutchins was published in the Bladelast Nov. 24, where people can learn more about her activism in the bisexual community. A private service for friends and family was held in December but this memorial service is open to all.
Alongside her groundbreaking work organizing for U.S. bisexual rights and liberation including co-editing “Bi Any Other Name: BIsexual People Speak Out” (1991), she also integrated faith into her sexual education and advocacy work. Her 2001 doctoral dissertation, “Erotic Rites: A Cultural Analysis of Contemporary U.S. Sacred Sexuality Traditions and Trends,” offered a pointed queer and feminist analysis to sex-neutral and sex-positive spiritual traditions in the United States. Her thesis was also groundbreaking in exploring the intersections between sex workers and those in caregiving professionals, including spiritual ones.
In an oral history interview conducted by Michelle Mueller back in August 2023, Hutchins described herself as a “priestess without a congregation.” While she has occasionally had a sense of community and feels part of a group of loving people, she admitted that “I don’t feel like we have the shape or the purpose that we need.”
“I’ve often experienced being the Cassandra in the room, the Cassandra in the community. Somebody who’s kind of way out there ahead, thinking through the strategic action points that my community hasn’t gotten to yet, and getting a lot of resistance and hostile responses from people who are frightened by dissent and conflict and not ready for the changes we have to make to survive,” she said.
“For somebody who’s bisexual in an out political way and who’s been a spokesperson for the polyamory movement in an out political way, it’s very exposing. And it’s very important to me to be able to try to explain and help other people understand the connection between spirituality and sexuality,” she explained citing how even as a graduate student she was “exploring how to feel erotic and spiritual, and not feel them in conflict with each other in my own spiritual contemplative life and my own sensual body awareness of being alive in the world.”
“Every religion has a sense of sacred sexuality. It’s just they put a lot of boundaries and regulations on it, and if we have a spiritual practice that is totally affirming of women’s priesthood and of gay people, queer people’s ability to minister to everyone and to be ministered to be everyone, what does that do to the gender of God, or our understanding of how we practice our spirituality and our sexuality in community and privately?”
“There’s no easy answer,” she concludes, and she continued to grapple with these questions throughout her life, co-editing another seminal text, “Sexuality, Religion and the Sacred: Bisexual, Pansexual, and Polysexual Perspectives,” published in 2012. Her work blending spiritual and queer liberation remains groundbreaking to this day.
Rev. Eric Eldritch, a local community organizer and ordained Pagan minister with Circle Sanctuary who has worked for decades with the DC Center’s Center Faith to organize the Pride Interfaith Service, is eager to highlight this element of her legacy at the memorial service next month.
a&e features
Queery: Meet artist, performer John Levengood
Modern creative talks nightlife, coming out, and his personal queer heroes
John Levengood (he/him) describes himself as a modern creative with a wide‑ranging toolkit. He blends music, technology, civic duty, and a sharp sense of wit into a cohesive artistic identity. Known primarily as a recording artist and performer, he’s also a self‑taught music producer and software engineer who embodies a generation of creators who build their own lanes rather than wait for one to appear.
Levengood, 32, who is single and identifies as gay and queer, is best known as a recording artist who has performed at Pride festivals across the country, including the main stages of World Pride DC, Central Arkansas Pride, and Charlotte Pride.
“Locally in the DMV, I’m known for turning heads at nightlife venues with my eye-catching sense of style. When I go out, I don’t try to blend in. I hope I inspire people to be themselves and have the courage to stand out,” he says.
He’s also known for hosting karaoke at Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, Va., on Thursday nights. “I like to create a space where people feel comfortable expressing themselves, building community, and showcasing their talents.”
He also creates social media content from my performances and do interviews at LGBTQ+ bars and theatres in the DMV. Follow the Arlington resident @johnlevengood.
How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?
I have been fully out of the closet since 2019. My parents were the hardest people to tell because my family has always been my rock and at the time I couldn’t imagine a world without them. Their reactions were extremely positive and supportive so I had nothing to fear all along.
I remember sitting on the couch with my mom, dad, and sister in our hotel room in New Orleans during our winter vacation and being so nervous to tell them. After I finally mustered up the nerve and made the proclamation, I realized my dad had already fallen asleep on the couch. My mom promised to tell him when he woke up.
Who’s your LGBTQ hero?
My LGBTQ heroes are Harvey Milk for paving the way for gays in politics and Elton John for being a pioneer for the fabulous and authentic. My local heroes in the DMV are Howard Hicks, manager of Green Lantern, and Tony Rivenbark, manager of Freddie’s Beach Bar. Both of them are essential to creating spaces where I’ve felt welcome and safe since moving to the DMV.
What’s Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?
Trade tops the list for me because of the dance floor and outdoor space. It’s so nice to get a break from the music every once and a while to be able to have a conversation.
We live in challenging times. How do you cope?
I’m still figuring this out. What is working right now is writing music and spending time with family and friends. I’ve also been spending less time on social media going to the gym at least three times a week.
What streaming show are you binging?
After “Traitors” Season 4 ended, I was in a bit of a show hole, but “Stumble” has me in a laughing loop right now. The writing is so witty.
What do you wish you’d known at 18?
At 18, I wish I would have known how liberating it is to come out of the closet. It would have been nice to know some winning lottery numbers as well.
What are your friends messaging about in your most recent group chat?
We are planning our next trip to New York City. If you can believe it, I visited NYC for the first time in 2025 for Pride and I’ve been back every quarter since. Growing up in the country, I was subconsciously primed to be scared of the city. But my mind has been blown. I can’t wait to go back.
Why Washington?
It’s the closest metropolitan area to my family, but not too close. I love the museums, the diversity, the history, and the proximity to the beach and mountains. It’s also nice to live in a city with public transportation.
Aging RFK Stadium has come down, but the RFK grounds are still getting lit up. Welcome back to the stage Project GLOW, D.C.’s homegrown electronic festival, on May 30-31. Back for its fifth year on these musically inclined acres, Project GLOW returns with an even more diverse lineup, and one that continues to celebrate LGBTQ antecedents, attendees, and acts.
Project GLOW 2026 headliners include house and techno star Mau P, progressive house legend Eric Prydz, hard-techno favorite Sara Landry, and bass acts Excision b2b Sullivan King, among the lineup of trance, bass, house, techno, dubstep, and others for the fifth anniversary year.
President & CEO Pete Kalamoutsos — born and raised in D.C. — founded Club GLOW in 1999. In 2020, GLOW entered into a partnership with global entertainment company Insomniac Events to produce live events like Project GLOW, which kicked off in 2022.
As in past years, Project GLOW not only makes space, but is intentionally inclusive of the LGBTQ community, one of its most dedicated fan bases. The festival’s LGBTQ-focused Secret Garden stage blooms again — a more intimate dance area that stands on the strength of DJs and musicians who draw from the LGBTQ community. D.C.’s LGBTQ nightlife mastermind Ed Bailey is the creative mind behind Secret Garden again. He joined Project GLOW in 2023.
“Kalamoustos says that “he’s proud of his partnership with Ed Bailey, along with Capital Pride and [nightlife producer] Jake Resnikow. It’s amazing to collaborate with Bailey at the Secret Garden stage, especially after the curated lineup we worked on at Pride last year.”
The Secret Garden will be a bit different from other stages: Eternal (“At the Eternal stage, time stands still. Lose yourself in the dance of past, present, and future, surrendering to the eternal rhythm of the universe”) and Pulse (“Feel the rhythm of the beat pulse through your veins as the heartbeat of the crowd synchronizes into one. Here, every moment vibrates with life as it guides you through a new dimension of euphoria”). The Secret Garden stage is in the round, surrounded by 16 shipping containers. The containers play canvas to muralists from around the world, who are coming in to paint them in a vibrant garden-style vibe. “We gave this stage some extra love with this layout,” K says, “ we finally cracked the code.”
K says that this will be the biggest lineup yet for the Secret Garden, featuring Nicole Moudaber b2b Chasewest, Riordan b2b Bullet Tooth, Ranger Trucco, Cassian, Eli & Fur, Cosmic Gate and Hayla. The stage is also the largest yet, featuring an expanded dance floor and 360-degree viewing.
Across all stages, K says that his goal for the fifth anniversary is “More art and fan interactive experience, more like a festival, strive to be like a Tomorrowland, as budget grows to add more experience.” Last year’s Project GLOW alone drew 40,000 attendees over two days.
K, however, was not satisfied with one festival this spring. GLOW recently announced a “pop-up” one-day event. Teaming up with Black Book Records, GLOW is set to throw a first-of-its-kind dance-music takeover of Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., headlined by electronic music star Chris Lake. Set for April 18, this euphoric block party will feature bass and vibes blocks from the White House. Organizers expect as many as 10,000 fans to attend. Beyond music, there will be food, activations, and plenty of other activities taking place around 6th St and Pennsylvania Ave NW – a location familiar to many in the LGBTQ community, as this sits squarely inside the blocks of the Capital Pride party that takes place in DC every June.
Over the past two decades, Club GLOW has produced thousands of events, from club nights to large-scale festivals including Project GLOW, Moonrise Festival, and more. Club GLOW also operates Echostage.
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