Screenplay - Boogie Nights

Ashley Lacour
October 4, 2010

The film Boogie Nights takes place in Torrance, California in the late 1970’s. The plot of the film, in a nutshell, follows Eddie Adams, AKA Dirk Diggler, A high school dropout and male prostitute turned highly successful porn star. With the help of his mentor, Jack Horner, and leading lady, Amber Waves, he rises to fame quickly, but as the times change, he and his friends discover that their seemingly decadent and desirable lifestyle choices may have been a good idea at the time, but are slowly ruining their lives. The dangers and temptations of the celebrity life is the obvious lesson to be taken from the story, but I would like the focus of the film to be less on the morale of the story as a whole, but specifically on the individual problems of each character. Each character has a very distinct personality and a very deep set of problems. I would like each actor and actress to play their character with only their problems in mind; Do not think of your characters as a part of a story, but as a story on their own. The audience should be able to see the hidden suffering behind all the lavish Hollywood partying.

Eddie Adams, Dirk Diggler - Jared Padalecki

We start out with struggling high school dropout Eddie Adams. As soon as he is drafted into the porno industry, we see the complete abandonment of his original identity as Eddie and a full-on adaptation of his alter ego Dirk. He immediately abandons his past life of prostitution and a broken home life and embraces the glamorous and dangerous life of porn, drugs, parties, and women. In the beginning we see, through a fight with his mother, his desire to make something of himself. He has a deep desire for success and that desire manifests itself through his work. Even as his involvement in drugs and prostitution worsens, he still holds tight to his principles of dedication and drive that he first started out with in the film.

Amber Waves – Ali Larter

Amber may seem like a glamorous porn star living a charmed life, but underneath it all her maternal instincts make up a majority of her personality. She engages in a custody battle with her ex-husband after losing her child due to her drug use and criminal past. Her maternal instincts are what leads her to care for Eddie early on. Her helps him transition into the world of porno and the two of them soon develop a relationship. Her drug use should be seen as a means of coping with the loss of her child rather.

Jack Horner – Aaron Eckhart

Jack, the legendary porn producer, stands alone in his principles. While he has produced some of the best porn in the business, the times are changing and he faces the dilemma of either conforming to the changes and compromising his vision or remaining the same and losing business. He sticks to his principles throughout the entire film however. His drives for excellence and dedication to his artistic vision are the main things that connect he and Eddy.

Rollergirl - Gillian Jacobs

We meet the young Rollergirl in the club, living a crazy life of all night parties and prostitution. While she may seem like just a girl in the party/porno crowd, she is actually still a high school student. Unlike Eddie, shes chosen to stay in high school for the most part, despite being teased and harassed by classmates over her sexual deviance. She still holds on to her youthful ways throughout all the drama, having fun in her roller skates and snapping Polaroid picures everywhere, but underneath that, there is a hurt, attention starved little girl yearning to get out.

Maurice Rodriguez – Rick Gonzalez

Maurice is the owner of a popular club that the porn stars frequent. He is a well-known, friendly figure in this circle of friends, yet he is somewhat of an outsider. He has no role in the production of these pornos, despite being around them. He has a desire to be as famous as his friends and let his family back home know that hes a success. He tries multiple times to land a role in one of Jack’s films, but to no avail. He begs Rollergirl to take a nude photo with him, but said photo doesn’t come out right. He has a strong desire to impress his friends and cousins by sending them these pictures and videos so that they think he has a glamorous life.