Is Beck Lying About His Relationship With Theresa Duncan's "Alice Underground" Film?

The Beck, Theresa Duncan/Jeremy Blake story continues to evolve and somehow get even more bizarre and even a little scary (if Scientologists creep you out).

In short, Duncan and Blake were two artists that died this past summer (both alleged suicides) and shortly before their deaths, they claimed that the Church of Scientology were harassing and following them. In a very recent Vanity Fair article, Duncan claimed she had information that L.A. songwriter Beck wanted to leave Scientology and this info put her life at risk.

She also claimed that Beck was to star in her film project "Alice Underground" which allegedly has something to do with the "Alice In Wonderland" story.

"Beck and I met repeatedly to discuss the film," Duncan wrote to a friend in early 2003 according to the VF piece. Beck countered and denied it all (more on that on our original story).

“We never met to discuss doing her film,” Beck e-mailed Vanity Fair. “I did read her script eventually.” But he said he never agreed to be in her movie.

Duncan also alleged that Beck wanted to desperately leave Scientology and he of course totally denied this."That's ridiculous. Totally false…Had we been closer and discussed anything as personal as religion, I would have only had positive things to say about Scientology." The film project then fell apart and Duncan was distraught (she believed the Church of Scientology had intimidated Beck to renounce participating in the movie).

However, and this is the most recent twist, blogger Emmanuel Richards has a good memory and he is pointing out a 2003 Italian interview that states quite the opposite. The piece, roughly translated, talks about Beck set to embark on his first film project and the fact that John Waters had wanted him to act in an earlier project, but the timing wasn't right.

Emmanuel writes: "my 2003 blog archive, which has a mention of a Beck interview for the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera, in which he says that he's about to shoot a movie inspired by Alice in Wonderland. It sounds a lot like the Theresa Duncan movie that he doesn't remember today as an advanced project. Is Beck's memory a tad scrambled?"

From the 2003 interview:

What about [your debut] movie? “It will be full of energy and full of characters: some kind of Alice in Wonderland set in the 70s. It still doesn’t have a title. The director is a friend of mine and it will be her directorial debut. But I trust her. We will begin shooting in the Fall.”

Sounds like Duncan's idea, no?

According to the Vulture blog the controversy is ongoing.

Blog SoMA reports that the Vanity Fair article's original author, John Connolly, was pulled off the story, and it was given to Sales, who's the ex-wife of Father Frank Morales, a friend to Duncan and Blake who was there when Duncan's body was discovered in her East Village apartment.

Man, this is a weird-ass and surreal story. Read more...

Beck Denies He Was Going To Act In Theresa Duncan Film; Article Implies The Aborted Movie Led To Her Suicide

Remember the very bizarre, very tragic and sad story of artists Jeremy Blake and Theresa Duncan who both committed suicide ? (She died of an overdose thought to be suicide, but never proved concretely, and a distraught Blake took his own life by swimming in the Atlantic near Rockaway beach until he drowned).

Blake made the pixelated visuals for both Beck's Sea Change cover, the album's "Round the Bend" video and created the hallucinogenic dream sequence visuals for Paul Thomas Anderson's
"Punch-Drunk Love."

Though the couple weren't actually Scientology members, they claimed that L. Ron Hubbard's religion was harassing and following them up until the time of their deaths. Then the story started involve L.A. junkshop singer Beck, a Scientologist who apparently wanted to leave the religious sect, at least according to an article in Newsweek that alleged Beck had told Duncan this information and knowing this info put her at risk.

Apparently the bizarre story is ongoing and now a new Vanity Fair article in the January issue bares bares e-mails written by Duncan alleging Beck pulled out of her beloved movie project, "Alice Underground" and implying that doing so made her distraught and suicidal.

"Beck and I met repeatedly to discuss the film," Duncan wrote to a friend in early 2003.

But Duncan said the Los Angeles-based Beck backed out, fearing that his Scientologist handlers wouldn't like the movie, Vanity Fair reported.

"[Beck] really, really tried to get away . . . [by] using going to NY to be in 'Alice Underground,' " Duncan e-mailed a friend in late 2006."He told me he wanted to leave the cult desperately, and this what they do when someone knows that."

Beck is denying all of it. "That's ridiculous. Totally false. We never met to discuss the film," Beck said. "I did explain to her I wasn't looking to act right then, and with the album, tour schedule, and a baby on the way, it wouldn't be feasible."

This story keeps getting weirder and weirder.
Read more...

Did Beck Want To Leave Scientology?

A strange story that doesn't have a lot to do with film per se. Remember Jeremy Blake the artist whose wife romantic partner Theresa Duncan (also an artist) committed suicide and then he disappeared and turned up drowned from an apparent suicide? (Blake's notable artwork included having made the pixelated visuals for both Beck's Sea Change cover, the album's "Round the Bend" video and created hallucinogenic dream sequence visuals for Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love").

Their tragic and extremely sad story has morbidly fascinated many and been reported all over the place, but a brand new Newsweek piece had this interesting tidbit of information.

In a disjointed 2006 e-mail to an art-world friend, Duncan claimed that Beck, a second-generation Scientologist, had told her about his plans to leave the church. This knowledge, she wrote, would make her “priority No. 1 for their paranoid and dangerous security wing.” (A spokesperson for Beck denied to NEWSWEEK that the exchange ever occurred, and a spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology called Duncan’s allegations “absurd.”)

Nothing if at least interesting. There's been a lot of Scientology conspiracy theories in this story and we can't even begin to get into it, but it's a weird one that you should read and follow if you haven't already. Her blog (which is still apparently up) has some strange stuff on it.

Video: Beck - "Round The Bend" (directed by Jeremy Blake)


Yeah, we realize this is a little bit crass, we just wanted to report on this story cause we found it sad and strange; just like everyone else.
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