By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Audrey Wells, who wrote and directed the 2003 romantic comedy "Under the Tuscan Sun" as well as the screenplay for the new film "The Hate U Give," has died after a five-year battle with cancer. She was 58.
A representative from United Talent Agency says Wells died Thursday.
The San Francisco native had early jobs as a disc jockey at a local jazz station and in public radio before making the transition to film, armed with a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles.
She wrote the screenplays for films like "The Truth About Cats and Dogs," a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac tale starring Uma Thurman, and "Shall We Dance," with Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere. She made her directorial debut with the 1999 indie "Guinevere," starring Sarah Polley as a young woman and her relationship with an older mentor.
Wells also wrote the script for the critically-acclaimed new film "The Hate U Give," an adaptation of Angie Thomas' young adult novel about a police shooting of a young black man. The film starring Amandla Stenberg is now playing in limited release before it expands nationwide Oct. 19.
Thomas tweeted Friday that it was, "A joy to work with Audrey, and I'm forever grateful for what she gave us with The Hate U Give adaptation. She will truly be missed."
UTA Co-President David Kramer said in a statement that Wells was "truly special."
"The strong, independent female characters she shaped resonate today more than ever and will be a part of her legacy always," Kramer said. "We will miss her amazing, spirit, creativity and the love she gave us."
Wells is survived by her husband Brian Larky and her daughter Tatiana. Larky said in a statement that Wells "fought valiantly against her illness" and died "surrounded by love."
The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Wells' favorite nonprofits, The Feminist Majority Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood.
Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More