Shia Labeouf, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke at Cannes. Featureflash / Shutterstock.com
By Hunter Woodall
In his second book, “The Wettest County in the World,” local author Matt Bondurant set out to write about his grandfather and great uncle’s moonshine business in the early 20th century. The stories had long been part of family lore, but through old newspaper articles and court documents, Bondurant discovered the complexity behind his family’s story of bootlegging during the prohibition in Franklin County.
Published in 2008, the non-fiction book was immediately optioned to be a major motion picture. The result is this year’s movie “Lawless.” The film is set to be released in theatres tomorrow, and stars Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Guy Pearce.
Bondurant recently spoke about the film, which premiered at Cannes in May.
What was it like watching your family history being turned into a movie?
“It was exciting, but I never really anticipated that it would be made (into a film) … It’s hard to explain, it was a surreal experience. Talking about it—what they’re going to do, and even as they send me some scripts—it all seemed very surreal and hard to believe that it was really happening. I think it really didn’t sink in until they started filming.”
What was it like being on set and meeting the people bringing your novel to life?
“I was very fortunate that the people that made [the movie] are such talented people, people that I really respect. They’re generous people who included me in the process quite a bit … that helped alleviate some of my angst. The more it went on, I think the more comfortable I became with it.”
(August 2012)