I was delighted when Nina Antonia asked me if we could do a second interview. A lot’s changed with both of us since we last spoke and my last interview with her was one of my favorites, so I hope it’s as good or better the second time around. We talked at length about the upcoming Johnny Thunders biopic, harm reduction, and other new projects in the works for Nina. Hope you enjoy the interview!

Hey Nina, thanks for wanting to do a second interview. How have you been since the last time we talked?

Good thank you, Tyler. I went to L.A last summer, courtesy of L.A.M.F Films, which was wonderful. Being a fan of Kenneth Anger’s ‘Hollywood Babylon’ I traced the last of old Hollywood, which is still written in the night sky although I was sad to hear that the house where ‘Sunset Boulevard’ was filmed no longer existed. But still there are plenty of landmarks left, including the Valentino crypt in Hollywood Forever. What did strike me as amusing was when I first saw the green cross signs, I presumed they were pharmacies, like in the UK, but then I saw these guys wearing coats with giant cannabis leaves on them and realised that they weren’t regular dispensaries at all. I returned to the UK finally understanding why Love & the Doors sound the way they do, they couldn’t have come from anywhere else. Aside from that, I’ve been acting as script consultant on the Johnny Thunders bio-pic, which has the working title of ‘The Dangerous Life of Johnny Thunders’, and continuing to write.

Director Alexander Soskin signed on to direct a Johnny Thunders biopic based on "In Cold Blood," right? What's your relationship like with him?

I met Alex for the first time whilst I was in L.A, I didn’t realise he was English until we sat down for dinner. Unlike the team behind L.A.M.F Films, he wasn’t overly familiar with Johnny’s work but that’s okay because it will give him creative detachment. Strange though this might seem, I learned the benefits of this with the team behind the documentary ‘Arthur Kane – New York Doll’. Those guys made a fantastic documentary without initially knowing anything about the New York Dolls, so they approached the project with no preconceptions. What we are aiming for with ‘Dangerous Life’ is an exciting, poignant feature rather than a text book rock flick so the fact that Alex isn’t overly au-fait with everything Thunders has its advantages yet he’s incredibly passionate about the project, and that’s what counts.

Had you seen any of Soskin's work before he signed on to direct? If so, what did you think of it?

Before Alex officially came on board, I saw several show-reels of his work, including adverts which he’d won awards for. The one that really grabbed was an advert for the New York Times; it was filmed in a way that was very evocative of New York in the 80’s, it had a grainy quality and it featured genuine characters, people who looked like real human beings rather than glossy androids. He gave meaning to sentiment and that’s what swayed me. Plus, this is an independent production not a Hollywood block-buster so to have a director with renowned editing skills means that he can visualise a scene rather than filming like crazy with time wasting consequence. Lean and mean is what we want. Alex made his editing reputation with ‘Sexy Beast’ and is currently attached to ‘Glee’, so I’m excited to see what he does with ‘Dangerous Life’. He’s a man with good cinematic sensibilities.

What have your interactions with Chloe Fontana and Ada Guerin, the screenwriters attached to the project been like?

The team behind L.A.M.F Films is Chloe Fontana and Ada Guerin. I’ve been working on a consultancy basis with Ada who is writing the script, with Alex’s input. It’s been like peeling an onion, trying to get to the essence of who Thunders was, what his motivations were and of course, my own involvement. Getting the dialogue correct, how people phrase things, how they react in a variety of situations is quintessential to getting this right. It’s been a case of continual refinement, for example, how does one best capture the relationship between Jerry Nolan and Johnny? How would they walk in a room? Yes, you can watch hours of on-stage footage or interviews, but that is still a performance in itself. Needless to say, every time I read the script, it makes me cry but that’s a good if painful thing, it means it has the power to emote.

In our last interview, you named Adrien Brody and Johnny Depp as your top choices for the role of Johnny, but what would a lesser-known actor need to bring to the role for you to consider him?

As I’ve had more time to think about the lead role, I’ve realised that although both Adrien Brody and Johnny Depp are fine actors, they may be a little too old now and it’s best to think more creatively. There is a younger actor who is very good at his craft, who would be perfect for the role, but I don’t want to say much more at this point. Ironically, I found myself standing next to Johnny Depp at a gig last year. First of all, I thought it was a Depp lookalike and then I realised it really was him! He was very handsome, but completely wrong to play JT. I can’t explain it, but he didn’t have the right frequency and he’s lost some of the sensitivity he used to have on screen. Guess that comes with a Disney franchise.

What pitfalls do you think this movie might have to avoid in order to not end up like 2013's widely panned "CBGB?"

I have to be careful what I say about the CBGB’s film which was a disappointment, aside from Alan Rickman who pulled off the role of Hilly Krystal with aplomb. The script was dire, really dumbed down, and it never got beyond the surface. A good movie should be multi-faceted, people don’t exist on a single plane of emotion; they are complex beings. Perhaps one of the problems with the CBGB’s film was that the producer, scriptwriter and director where all the same person but you need a strong team on board, with different skills to give their input and in that aspect, L.A.M.F Films is already markedly different.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, who played rock critic Lester Bangs in 2000's "Almost Famous," recently died of a heroin overdose. Do you think that proper harm reduction measures could have saved his life and possibly Johnny's?

That’s a huge question but an important one. As well as writing, I used to work in the substance misuse field for over a decade. Sometimes people assume, with the best intentions in the world, that there weren’t people around Johnny desperate for him to stop using. The ones that cared would have done anything to see him in recovery but the desire to quit has to come from the individual. Towards the end of Johnny’s life, he entered Hazelden and attempted to clean up. Sadly, he relapsed. When it came to emotions, he was a private person and he was unable to cope with certain issues that haunted him. I don’t know as much about Philip Seymour Hoffman, other than his death was tragic and he was a fine actor but I was surprised by some of the comments that were made in the press that reflected how little people really understand about addiction. One of the more respected newspapers here commented that Hoffman appeared calm and eloquent so how could he be a heroin user? Like d’oh – of course he would appear calm under the influence of junk and there’s no reason why he wouldn’t be eloquent either; for shy people, heroin eases social situations but it’s at a terrible cost. Also, I noticed well-meaning people on social media posting things like ‘don’t buy any drugs’ in the sad days that followed Hoffman’s death but if you are desperate for a fix, you don’t have a choice. We need to decriminalise opiates to remove the attached stigma. If there was less scapegoating and a more educated response, then there would be fewer fatalities.

Last time, you talked about the difference between Keith Richards' relative health while he was using and Johnny's struggle. Can the same be said for the difference between Johnny Thunders and the late Lou Reed?

I’m not sure that is a good comparison though both were great artistes. Lou Reed neither denied nor fessed up to using drugs; rather he said at the time that songs like ‘Heroin’ and ‘Waiting for My Man’ were observational pieces. Reed was a genius at capturing wayward lives and weaving them into songs but like Andy Warhol, whose films did much the same thing, Lou eventually detached from the street, whereas Johnny Thunders never could.

What's the most critical thing that our society ignores when it criminalizes disease?

If you mean addiction – that it can happen to anyone. Substance misuse has no boundaries; it’s just that the rich can afford to hide it better for longer but it’s still devastating. It’s a progressive disease, it never gets better, only worse until the person is ready to act but it’s a decision they alone have to be ready to make. Sadly, however, sobriety isn’t something everyone can attain, for a variety of reasons.

What can you tell us about Danny Garcia’s documentary, “Looking For Johnny?”

I’ve just done the press release for Danny Garcia’s forthcoming documentary ‘Looking for Johnny’, which I believe is going to premier this May. He’s done a great job telling Johnny’s story via footage and through the guitarist’s friends and fellow-musicians, including Sylvain Sylvain, Frank Infante, Leee Black Childers, Peter Perrett and Bob Gruen. There is also a final interview with Marty Thau, as well. As you probably know, there have been past attempts at making a documentary about Johnny but they weren’t approached in the right direction. This time however, Danny has done Mr Thunders proud and I’m happy I was asked to appear in it.

Is there any other new work on the horizon for you?

There’s a lot going on at the moment, including a new book but I don’t want to say more at this point until everything is 100% so watch this space and once again, great talking to you for Punk Globe, Tyler!!

Photo credits: Beki Cowey and John "Boogie" Tiberi