Kristen Stewart Is Starring in the Wild Story of 'J.T. LeRoy'

Home>
Culture>
Movies>
Kristen Stewart Is Starring in the Wild Story of J.T. LeRoy
Kristen Stewart Is Starring in the Wild Story of J.T. LeRoy
K-Stew plays a real-life woman who pretended to be a transgender author.
By Raffy ErmacApril 05 2019 / 5:42 PM
Raffy Ermac
Raffy is a Los Angeles-based writer, editor, video creator, critic, and digital director of Out Magazine. The former editor-in-chief of PRIDE, he is also a die-hard Rihanna and Sailor Moon stan who loves to write about all things pop culture, entertainment, and identities. Follow him on Instagram (@raffyermac) and Twitter (@byraffy), and subscribe to his YouTube channel. 
 See Full Bio 
Trending Stories
It’s National PrEP Day! Learn the latest about HIV prevention
Heated Rivalry episode 3 guide: Actors, characters, and gay storylines
Trans pastor says she’s ‘surrounded by loving kindness’ after coming out to New York congregation
'Blue Film' director Elliot Tuttle on 'breaking down' archetypes and confronting audiences
Trans National Guard employee in Illinois sues Trump over restroom ban
Amazing People of 2025: Javier Muñoz
HIV-positive men stage 'Kiss-In' protest at U.S.-Mexico border
Messenger RNA could be the key to an HIV vaccine — but government cuts pose a threat
What the AIDS crisis stole from Black gay men
Heated Rivalry actors' sexuality questions? Not on Jacob Tierney's watch
Violet Chachki is 'reclaiming her own masculinity' in Nasty Pig campaign
Charlie Kirk’s widow set to join out CBS News chief Bari Weiss for televised town hall
Open the drag vaults! Meet the queens of RuPaul's Drag Race season 18
Transgender Army vet running for state delegate in red Maryland district is all about showing up
Ruben Gallego’s leaked texts mocking Democrats’ looks & masculinity intensify temperament concerns
Recommended Stories for You
“So much life to live”: Eric Nieves on thriving with HIV
'The Abandons' stars Gillian Anderson & Lena Headey want to make lesbian fans proud
This heavenly hotel in the heart of Hell's Kitchen is the perfect oasis
Cis men love top surgery—it should be available for all
UNITY at Sphere is the perfect Las Vegas attraction for gay tourists
When love sinks, set sail for the Hudson Navigator
Cis men love top surgery—it should be available for all
More than a month: Prioritizing LGBTQ+ health year-round
Explore the camp, parties, and parade of Provincetown Carnival 2025
A gay solo traveler goes bear-hunting in Barcelona
Queer dating app cliches and why we're as predictable as straight people
Denver LGBTQ+ youth center closed indefinitely after burglar steals nearly $10K
Andrew Christian closes iconic gay underwear brand: 'We made people feel seen'
Top 10 LGBTQ+ beach towns perfect for Pride and summer fun
Years before Stonewall, a cafeteria riot became a breakthrough for trans rights
The lab coat just got queer
“I am the steward of my ship”: John Gibson rewrites his HIV narrative
Tucker Carlson and Milo Yiannopoulos spend two hours spewing homophobia and pseudo-science
Tig Notaro is working on a 'hot lesbian action' movie with Zack Snyder
The Talk: Beyond the exam room
Marriage equality will be banned in these 31 states if Obergefell is overturned
The Talk: Owning your voice
'Vanderpump Rules' new SUR-vers go viral for their OnlyFans accounts & hot shirtless pics
What is a Jubilee? These Catholics just became the first LGBTQ+ people to participate
Malta is the secret Pride destination where gays are going wild
Kristen Stewart (one of our fave actresses of all time!) is starring alongside Laura Dern, Diane Kruger, and Courtney Love in the wild, true story of Savannah Knoop, a woman who pretended to be a famous transgender author named J.T. LeRoy.
\u201cJ.T. LeRoy has a rockin\u2019 new look! Check out the brand new poster for #JTLeRoyFilm and don\u2019t miss one of the greatest literary hoaxes of our time.Starring #KristenStewart, #LauraDern #DianeKruger #JimSturgess & #CourtneyLove. In Select Theaters, On Demand & Digital April 26.\u201d
 — Love Indie Films (@Love Indie Films)
        1553877532
After being enlisted by her sister-in-law and writer Laura Albert (played by Dern), Savannah spends six years of her life acting as J.T. LeRoy, Laura's transgender "avatar" and the pen name she used to writing a critically-acclaimed 2000 novel Sarah.
J.T. LeRoy already inspired a documentary back in 2016, and now we get to see the jaw-dropping, real-life story unravel in a feature film! 
Watch the trailer for J.T. LEROY in the video below. 
J.T. LEROY hits theaters and On Demand/Digital on April 26.

        
        FROM OUR SPONSORS
        
    

        
        The Latest
        
    
TV
        'Heated Rivalry' introduced Scott and Kip's love story — but here's what you missed from the book
    
Ariel Messman-Rucker
Dec 05, 2025
News
        'Finding Prince Charming's Chad Spodick dies at 42
    
Mey Rude
Dec 05, 2025
News
        Women gamers boycott global esports tournament over trans ban
    
Mey Rude
Dec 05, 2025
TV
        'Heated Rivalry' episode 3 drives gay fans wild and breaks the internet — again
    
Ariel Messman-Rucker
Dec 05, 2025
Watch Now: Pride Today

        
        More For You
        
    
Interviews
        'Blue Film' director Elliot Tuttle on 'breaking down' archetypes and confronting audiences
    
Bernardo Sim
December 04 2025 / 4:20 PM
Kieron Moore as Aaron Eagle; Reed Birney as Hank Grant in Blue Film.

        Fusion Entertainment
    
Elliot Tuttle's debut feature Blue Film tells the story of a camboy and a disgraced former teacher that challenges hubris, conjures horrors, and casually hijacks one's attention to keep up with the intense unfurling of a drama that moves like a thriller.
Starring Kieron Moore as Aaron Eagle and Reed Birney as Hank Grant, Blue Film is set over an increasingly suffocating night in a Los Angeles Airbnb. The movie has already received all sorts of responses from audiences and critics alike since it premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival — a polarized reaction that Tuttle was not only prepared for, but was actually curious about.
Keep ReadingShow less

        
        Most Popular
        
    
Celebrities
        Adult film star Scott Finn dies at age 27
    
Ariel Messman-Rucker
Dec 03, 2025
TV
        All 7 sex scenes on 'Heated Rivalry' (so far), ranked
    
Pride Staff
Dec 01, 2025
Celebrities
        Gavin Croghan strips down to tight white briefs in sexy new photoshoot
    
Ricky Cornish
Dec 04, 2025
Movies
        35 all-time greatest lesbian sex scenes in movies & where to stream them
    
Preston Max Allen And Tracy E. Gilchrist
Pride Staff
Dec 13, 2024
TV
        12 gay sex scenes from the 'Heated Rivalry' book that we're dying to see in the show
    
Ariel Messman-Rucker
Nov 24, 2025
TV
        'Heated Rivalry' star Hudson Williams' nasty back arch is breaking the internet
    
Ariel Messman-Rucker
Dec 02, 2025
Sign Me Up!
Get a roundup of the best in LGBTQ+ culture delivered to your inbox weekly.
Enter your email
Movies
        5 LGBTQ+ Christmas movies coming out in 2025
    
Ariel Messman-Rucker
November 17 2025 / 4:37 PM

        Hallmark; Lifetime
    
The holidays are just around the corner, and this year is going to be extra gay! 
Between Hallmark, Lifetime, and streaming platforms, hundreds of Christmas movies come out every year, but we usually only get a couple of queer ones. Bah humbug!
Keep ReadingShow less
Movies
        A lesbian firefighter Christmas movie is on the way and sapphics are celebrating
    
Ariel Messman-Rucker
November 14 2025 / 3:30 PM
Poster for The Firefighter's Christmas Wish.

        Lifetime
    
The holiday season is just around the corner, which means hot cocoa, plenty of flannel, and curling up with a fuzzy blanket to watch a cute Christmas movie. 
The problem is the lack of lesbian representation in holiday movies. Sure, we got Happiest Season, and smaller films like Friends & Family Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Knife, and A Holiday I Do, but sapphic Christmas movies are still few and far between. 
Keep ReadingShow less
Movies
        Adele and Hunter Schafer are set to star in a gay revenge film — here's what we know
    
Ariel Messman-Rucker
November 12 2025 / 3:27 PM
From left: Hunter Schafer, Tom Ford, Lux Pascal, and Adele.

        Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images; tinseltown/Shutterstock; Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Disney; lev radon/Shutterstock
    
Fashion designer and filmmaker Tom Ford is set to direct his first film in almost a decade, and it’s going to be the next gay obsession.
The openly gay A Single Man director is helming and writing an adaptation of the Anne Rice novel Cry To Heaven, and it's also going to star gay icon Adele and some of your fave trans actors. 
Keep ReadingShow less
Movies
        Gird your loins! 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' teaser is here
    
Bernardo Sim
November 12 2025 / 2:33 PM
Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly and Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada 2 teaser.

        20th Century Studios
    
A sequel. For spring. Groundbreaking!
Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci are all reprising their respective roles as Miranda Priestly, Andy Sachs, Emily, and Nigel on The Devil Wears Prada 2 — which just dropped a brand-new teaser that has the gays shaking in their Prada boots.
Keep ReadingShow less
Load More

Latest Stories

Sign Me Up!

Kristen Stewart Is Starring in the Wild Story of J.T. LeRoy

K-Stew plays a real-life woman who pretended to be a transgender author.

Trending Stories

It’s National PrEP Day! Learn the latest about HIV prevention

Heated Rivalry episode 3 guide: Actors, characters, and gay storylines

Trans pastor says she’s ‘surrounded by loving kindness’ after coming out to New York congregation

'Blue Film' director Elliot Tuttle on 'breaking down' archetypes and confronting audiences

Trans National Guard employee in Illinois sues Trump over restroom ban

Amazing People of 2025: Javier Muñoz

HIV-positive men stage 'Kiss-In' protest at U.S.-Mexico border

Messenger RNA could be the key to an HIV vaccine — but government cuts pose a threat

What the AIDS crisis stole from Black gay men

Heated Rivalry actors' sexuality questions? Not on Jacob Tierney's watch

Violet Chachki is 'reclaiming her own masculinity' in Nasty Pig campaign

Charlie Kirk’s widow set to join out CBS News chief Bari Weiss for televised town hall

Open the drag vaults! Meet the queens of RuPaul's Drag Race season 18

Transgender Army vet running for state delegate in red Maryland district is all about showing up

Ruben Gallego’s leaked texts mocking Democrats’ looks & masculinity intensify temperament concerns

Recommended Stories for You

“So much life to live”: Eric Nieves on thriving with HIV

'The Abandons' stars Gillian Anderson & Lena Headey want to make lesbian fans proud

This heavenly hotel in the heart of Hell's Kitchen is the perfect oasis

Cis men love top surgery—it should be available for all

UNITY at Sphere is the perfect Las Vegas attraction for gay tourists

When love sinks, set sail for the Hudson Navigator

Cis men love top surgery—it should be available for all

More than a month: Prioritizing LGBTQ+ health year-round

Explore the camp, parties, and parade of Provincetown Carnival 2025

A gay solo traveler goes bear-hunting in Barcelona

Queer dating app cliches and why we're as predictable as straight people

Denver LGBTQ+ youth center closed indefinitely after burglar steals nearly $10K

Andrew Christian closes iconic gay underwear brand: 'We made people feel seen'

Top 10 LGBTQ+ beach towns perfect for Pride and summer fun

Years before Stonewall, a cafeteria riot became a breakthrough for trans rights

The lab coat just got queer

“I am the steward of my ship”: John Gibson rewrites his HIV narrative

Tucker Carlson and Milo Yiannopoulos spend two hours spewing homophobia and pseudo-science

Tig Notaro is working on a 'hot lesbian action' movie with Zack Snyder

The Talk: Beyond the exam room

Marriage equality will be banned in these 31 states if Obergefell is overturned

The Talk: Owning your voice

'Vanderpump Rules' new SUR-vers go viral for their OnlyFans accounts & hot shirtless pics

What is a Jubilee? These Catholics just became the first LGBTQ+ people to participate

Malta is the secret Pride destination where gays are going wild

FROM OUR SPONSORS

The Latest

More For You

Most Popular

Sign Me Up!

1. Oh. What. Fun.

2. A Keller Christmas Vacation

3. The Christmas Writer

4. The Christmas Baby

5. The Firefighter’s Christmas Wish

What is ‘Cry To Heaven’ about?

What is a castrato?

Who is starring in 'Cry to Heaven'?

Is 'Cry To Heaven' based on a book?

When will it premier?