Written and starring River Gallo, based on their 2019 short film of the same name, Ponyboi plays with expectations in this crime thriller. We spoke with Gallo and star Dylan O’Brien.
Directed by Esteban Arango and starring Dylan O’Brien, Victoria Pedretti, Murray Bartlett, and Indya Moore, the film follows the titular “Ponyboi,” an intersex sex worker who becomes ensnared in a drug deal gone wrong due to the mishandling of his secret lover and pimp, Vinnie (O’Brien.) The film follows their journey as he must flee from the mob and confront a tumultuous past and an uncertain future.
The screenplay, written by Gallo, expertly weaves themes of identity, family, and trauma while embracing the genre staples of crime thrillers. Their presence is immense, and Ponyboi promises bright things ahead for them. We spoke to Gallo and O’Brien about the making of the film, including a key scene featuring one of Bruce Springsteen’s best-known songs.
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BWT: River, could you talk a little about the writing process, specifically expanding your own short into a feature film and the challenges that came with it?
River Gallo: My writing process involved a lot of going to the library. Because I like to be where it’s quiet but around a lot of people, and coffee shops are so loud these days [laughs]. A lot of writing in my bedroom. I would like, go to motels in New Jersey – really scary motels. Like motels that people are renting for an hour or are living there. People are either living in these hotel rooms or are there for a quickie. And I’d write poetry in these rooms. That was the writing process for the actual feature.
But it was based on, like you said, my short film, which was based on a theater work that I had done as an undergrad at NYU, and was exploring this character who was a sex worker and worked on the highways in New Jersey, who was gender non-conforming. That was like ten years ago. That always stayed the same. When I went to film school, I couldn’t shake this character off. I had a tough time in film school because it was at a point in the industry where it was pre-Me Too and pre “let’s celebrate women,” and it was still a boys club, honestly.
I felt like a lot of my work in film school up until that point was trying to impress professors who were predominantly white men. So for my last year I was just like, “okay, let’s cut the sh*t, I need to be myself” and I returned to my theater work. I based Ponyboi on this character.
And at the time, I was also realizing that the medical condition I was born with was a part of the larger intersex umbrella. I was like, “Okay, I have to make that a part of the movie now.” A lot of the feature was based on my own journey, melding together my past identity as a theater artist and my past identity with growing up intersex..
ButWhyTho: When you first wrote the short film, did you envision it becoming a feature-length film? Or did it take time and experience to want to develop it?
River Gallo: I always saw it as a feature. Because I knew that I had one shot. Am I paying literally a quarter of a million dollars to go to this school. I need to leave this school with a calling card to jump-start my entire career. And I knew that I needed to start my life. I had no idea I was going to get my master’s. It feels weird even saying that.
I knew that I needed to put all of the cards on the table and that I needed to come in hot and be like “hey, I’m River, this is what I’m about, this is the type of sh*t that I make, take it or leave it.” I’m glad I took that risk to believe in myself, and the result of it was this movie.
ButWhyTho: Dylan, could you talk about what first appealed to you about the script and your character? How did you settle into the role – did the costuming and style help?
Dylan O’Brien: In terms of the spirit of the character, I do feel like I locked into it right away. In a way that I don’t think anybody would have expected. And kudos to River, because they championed me from the get-go and believed in me that I could play this character, which I don’t even think today people would necessarily go to me for that role. So thanks, babe!
I have to give a shout-out to our art crew and hair and makeup team. When we really started going for it with the haircut and really getting there with the look, that really informs so much and helps you sell it. That helped me a lot in passing as this guy. And it helps give you the confidence to sink in. There was also a lot of small help. I remember I’d go to our key grip and for the accent. He just had the best Jersey accent, and I was obsessed with him. He’d give me words all the time, too, to throw in. I’d just utilize this guy for everything.
It always is a team effort. The project from the start is just so holy, singular, and unique in some many ways. This fascinating character who I’d get to come in and do and be a part of this, too – I mean it was a no-brainer. Especially after I met with River and Esteban Arango, I just felt like it was a vibe. It felt right. River and I are the same age, and we’re both from North Jersey. We’d known the same people. I loved their vibe immediately.
River Gallo: Dylan’s moon is in Pisces, and my moon is in Cancer. And Dylan’s sun is in Virgo, and my sun is in Taurus. Essentially, we’re fated.
Dylan O’Brien: This is why you reached out to me [laughs].
ButWhyTho: I wanted to discuss two standout aspects of the movie. There are two musical numbers in the film – Dylan, you get to rap. And River, you have a beautiful scene where you sing a piece of “I’m On Fire” a cappella. Could you talk about filming these scenes? Is there an added layer of stress?
River Gallo: Before I knew I wanted to screen act, I was like, “theater, theater, theater.” I was a musical theater girl. But I was always a shy singer, so it didn’t make sense. This is one of the few scenes in the movie that was almost word-for-word the same as the short. So when the feature came along and was like we need a singing moment and they should sing a Bruce Springsteen song, I was really excited to in my little, shy singing way.
There was a whole story, though. Originally, the people who owned the publishing rights to that song from Springsteen’s catalog, because he doesn’t own them, denied us the rights. Two days before locking the picture, we had to cut that part of the scene because we didn’t have the rights, and nothing was getting through to them. So, I had to write a letter to Bruce Springsteen explaining to him how much I love his work, what this movie meant to me, and what the song meant to the film in that particular moment.
Literally the day before we lock cut he emailed us back saying that he loved my letter and that he was really excited for the movie and allowed us to use the song. Stamp of approval from the Boss.
Did you want to talk about Dylan’s rap?
Dylan O’Brien: What do you want me to say?
River Gallo: I don’t know.
ButWhyTho: Did it feel natural to you?
River Gallo: He wrote it.
ButWhyTho: Really?
River Gallo: In the script, I was like “bad rap goes here” and was like we’ll figure it out.
Dylan O’Brien: And again, like the circle of trust that we had from early on. Esteban and River let me write it, and I didn’t even present it to you until the morning of the blocking of the scene. It was fun to write a rap at all and have to follow through on it, and do it as that character, what that guy would rap, was a blast.
River Gallo: I think you did a great job.
Ponyboi is in select theaters starting June 27.
