Recent controversy has risen in Hollywood due to the release of Lovelace, an American biographical drama film based on the true story of Linda Boreman, better known as Linda Lovelace, the famous pornographic actress. Even more surprising is that wholesome actress Amanda Seyfried will be the one to finally expose this sad story to the public.
Lovelace continues to remain America’s best-known porn star even though, ironically, she spent a total of two and a half weeks working in the adult film industry. Lovelace covers the part of her life when she was “20 to 32” and married to husband, Chuck Trayner. Many people remember Lovelace as the woman who starred as herself in the 1972 film Deep Throat, a pornographic film with a self-explanatory title. The film grossed over $600 million and soon became one of the most famous pornographic films in history. Shortly after, the sequel Deep Throat II was released with Lovelace as the star, but it was not nearly as successful as the first. What many people do not remember is the sad story behind Lovelace’s pornographic career.
With her family-friendly roles in Mamma Mia!, Mean Girls and Dear John, the actress rose to fame as the typical girl-next-door. Although Seyfried has played risky characters in the past, like in the film Jennifer’s Body, she’s played mostly innocent roles in other films. This common image will no longer exist as she takes on the dark and disturbing role of Linda Lovelace.
“This is the riskiest thing that’s happening in Hollywood right now,” Seyfried said in an interview with the Sunday Times. “The first thing you think about is that it could ruin my career.”
The actress contemplated whether to accept this dangerous role not only because she would be depicting the life of a famed porn star, but also because it involved various scenes with partial nudity. According to Vogue, it was Seyfried’s father who was her biggest supporter in taking on the role of Lovelace. Surprisingly, he helped her handle the darker aspects of her character’s life.
The film summarizes the production and release of Deep Throat, showing how Lovelace became a world-renowned pornography actress. But what it really focuses on is the story behind the real Linda Lovelace who is used and abused by the porn industry at the behest of her coercive husband and manager, Chuck Trayner. Lovelace has openly admitted that he forced her into the porn industry after he beat and raped her and forced her into prostitution. It was hard for Seyfried to play this role knowing that it was Lovelace’s porn star image that corrupted her credibility in terms of the abuse. But this film portrays the real story in such a way that viewers will develop sympathetic feelings toward Lovelace and are able to look past the star of Deep Throat.
The film not only stars Amanda Seyfried as Linda Lovelace but also Peter Sarsgaard as her husband, Chuck Trayner, and Adam Brody as Harry Reems, the Deep Throat costar. Other names that you will come across in this film are Chris Noth, Sharon Stone and Juno Temple. Lovelace opened in U.S. theaters with a limited release and on iTunes Aug. 9, 2013.
Jacki Guenther can be reached at jaclyn.guenther@spartans.ut.edu