Tracy Letts Talks Childhood & KILLER JOE With William Friedkin

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Tony Award-winning actor Tracy Letts discusses his childhood and his early playwrighting at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company as part of a new interview with director William Friedkin in promotion of the stage-to-screen adaptation of his celebrated drama AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY.

Remarking upon his upbringing in Durant, Oklahoma, Letts tells friend and frequent collaborator Friedkin, "I felt like an outsider. I was not popular - I was bullied."

Furthermore, Letts says of his early plays - which include BUG and KILLER JOE - "I had a lot more darkness then."

On that note, outlining the impetus for the gritty KILLER JOE, Letts remembers, "It was written out of anger, and I knew it would shock people."

Academy Award-winning Friedkin directed the feature film adaptation of the property recently, of course - which received an NC-17 rating - and amusingly recounts in the profile he has written on Letts in the new Vanity Fair that fellow playwright Martin McDonagh has told Letts, "You'll be back on the dark side soon."

Well, we can certainly hope!

Check out the original article on the matter here.