This past week saw what would have been Hunter S. Thompson’s 75th birthday. Born July 18, 1937, the writer committed suicide in 2005 after suffering from poor health.

Novelist, sports columnist, political commentator, drug addict: as far as writers go, he was quite rare, able to keep up with his writing as he lived a life that would have destroyed others. In fact, it was his rampant alcohol and drug use that gave him material for his writings, which have proven to be profoundly influential.

His most famous work, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, is a “roman a clef” of him and his friend traveling to Las Vegas to compose a report on a car race that ultimately would not be written. The two instead take heavy drugs, ruminate on American culture, and go looking for the American dream. Nothing is taboo here: rape and kidnapping play a part in the story, and Thompson himself knows that he is not above the people he satirizes. Terry Gilliam adapted it into a film in 1998, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro.

The novel is probably the most well-known example of gonzo journalism, a style of journalism that Thompson popularized and was itself a part of the New Journalism movement of the 70s. Other writers who took part in this movement include the acclaimed Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer and Truman Capote. While traditional journalism is more about simply the facts, gonzo journalism is about first-person narratives; more about telling a story than reporting something. Thompson frequently wrote for Rolling Stone, and many of his articles were in that style, including his first, entitled “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved,” which can be found here online.

Thompson also wrote about politics. Much of this stemmed from his own personal interests. In 1970, he ran for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado. In 1972, he followed the election campaigns of Richard Nixon and George McGovern and wrote a series of article which were later collected in Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72. He also wrote a book, Kingdom of Fear, featuring detailed essays and stories about rebelling against authority in a post-9/11 world.

Although toward the end of his life Thompson’s work consisted mainly of potboilers and collections of material he had done in his prime, he remained a figure to be reckoned with. He is, in a sense, much like Henry Miller. Although Thompson did not face censorship issues like Miller did, both pushed the envelope of what was considered acceptable for publication. Miller wrote about sex, Thompson drugs and madness and politics, often blending them together to create works that had a political commentary. Most times, it would have been impossible to create the same effect through other means.

Last year his novel The Rum Diary, which he had written during his twenties but which was only published in the 90s, was made into a feature film starring Johnny Depp. Although it received a mixed reception and failed at the box office, it proves that Thompson is still remembered. And with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas still widely read, it seems we will be in the shadow of Hunter S. Thompson for some time yet.

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Principal photography for The Rum Diary began in the historic and beautiful city of Old San Juan. The cast and crew stayed at the legendary Caribe Hilton, “I’d love to make every movie I do in Puerto Rico,” producer Graham King says. “My hotel was on the beach and I’d go swimming every morning!”

Old San Juan is a stop off point for many of the Caribbean cruises. Word quickly spread, among the tourists and locals alike, that Johnny Depp was in town. At first, there was just a small group of onlookers. However, after the first day’s extensive coverage in the local newspaper, the streets outside the set were lined with people anxious to see him in the flesh.

Day by day, the numbers increased and finally the security people had to cordon off the sidewalk in order to keep the fans and media out of the street. Every night at wrap, Johnny Depp walked the line of fans shaking hands and signing autographs. His fans, and the local paparazzi, were ecstatic.

Several of the kids were dressed as pirates, and Johnny spent some extra time with them as a reward for their efforts. The Rum Diary filmed many scenes in old San Juan, and once filming there was complete, the company moved to Fajardo, on the northeast coast of Puerto Rico.  The company also filmed for some time at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, the former U.S. air base.

They also filmed part of a driving sequence in El Yunque, Puerto Rico’s famous rainforest. During filming in Puerto Rico, Johnny Depp was visited by several old friends, one of whom was singer-songwriter, poet, and visual artist Patti Smith. Smith kept very busy during her time there. “I very rarely just visit,” says Smith.

“If I like where I am, I always wind up becoming engaged, even abstractly. I kept a The Rum Diary diary. I took a lot of pictures, made certain observations, and wrote some songs. It’s actually been very productive for me. Being in a positive atmosphere with people focused working as one mind was great. It’s amazing how much work I’ve accomplished supposedly doing nothing.”

After reading the script of the movie on the plane, Smith was inspired to write a song. “I fell asleep reading and when I woke up, as I was clawing my way into consciousness, this little song was in my mind. I wrote it down because I had wanted to sing it as a present for Bruce [Robinsin, the director] and Johnny. Of all the viewpoints I could have taken, for some reason, I took that of Chenault’s.” This song is now in the end credits to the film.

Hunter S. Thompson, writer of the novel behind the upcoming movie, died in 2005, but Depp and Robinson were determined to keep his spirit alive on set. “One of my last efforts to salute the man was to continue on in our venture and force him even in death to be a producer,” says Depp.

“I asked that there be a chair made for Hunter with his name on it; I asked that there be a script cover made for Hunter with his name on it; I asked that there be an ashtray and a little block of a packet of Dunhills with a cigarette holder every day with a lighter, for Hunter;

I asked that there be a bottle of Chivas Regal next to his chair every day, and of course a highball glass filled with ice next to the bottle, for Hunter. We had to somehow utilize all these elements to recognize Hunter, to salute him.

Bruce and I would arrive on set every morning, saunter up to the highball glass, pour it full with Chivas Regal, dunk our fingers in, maybe take a sip and get on with the day—just to make sure that Hunter was there. And he was there. Every day, every second, every moment. For us.”

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The film adaptation of Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson’s second novel ‘The Rum Diary’ is set to premier in US cinemas on October 28. With Academy Award nominated screenwriter Bruce Robinson penning the script, the question is how the often wild and manic characters of the Thompson universe were translated onto the screen.

In the production notes, the team behind The Rum Diary explain their casting choices. “When I set to cast the role of Chenault, I was looking for someone with a lascivious edge,” says Robinson. Chenault is the fiance of Aaron Eckhart’s character Sanderson, a charming but unsavory businessman. “In the book Chenault is Yeamon’s girlfriend, but [...] the Yeamon character is gone [in the movie].

I made her Sanderson’s girlfriend to heighten the dramatic tension. You immediately get some heat and drama out of the fact that the girl is utterly unobtainable. The whole book is about the American dream, and Hunter’s obsession with lifting the lid on the dream. Chenault is attached to the man who is exploiting the dream. Kemp is crazy in love with her because she is as unobtainable as the dream.”

That unobtainable quality is what attracted Johnny Depp, who plays the journalist Paul Kemp to the role’s eventual taker, Amber Heard. “She was like this incredible 1950s movie star, but with a deep rooted poetry to her. There was a mystery there; you couldn’t quite understand what had gone on in her life, but it made you want to ask questions that you wouldn’t normally ask.”

The character of Moberg was interesting to cast. “In the book, he is described as being Swedish, but I decided to make him an American,” says Robinson. “Giovanni Ribisi is such a fine actor. On the set he looked like a derelict,” he laughs. “I think Giovanni brings comic relief to the driving force of the movie.”

Depp was adamant about Ribisi’s involvement from the outset. “We worked together on Public Enemies and I just thoroughly fell in love with him. I knew then that I wanted this guy on The Rum Diary somewhere. ‘I don’t care what he does, I just want him there. I want to work with him again.’ What a pleasure, what a gift. I salute the guy endlessly; he’s just wonderful.”

“As an actor, I really appreciated the details that Giovanni added to his character,” says Robinson admiringly. “He came up with something, which was a complete invention. It was absolutely ridiculous, but beautiful. He picked up an ashtray and emptied the entire thing into the shopping bag, which he always carries. It was just in case there are a few butts in there that may come in handy. It was a piece of pure on-the-spot comic invention.”

“Moberg is the crime and religious correspondent at the newspaper,” Ribisi says of his character. “I think he was really angry with capitalism in America, what they were doing. He started seeing the results of that on the Puerto Rican culture. Although he despises Lotterman [San Juan Star’s editor], he feels that being with the newspaper does give him a chance to have a voice as a journalist.”

“I think when Moberg first meets Kemp,” says Ribisi, “he thinks Kemp is someone he can possibly take advantage of. There is some degree of skepticism that Kemp is just another guy coming in. However, when he begins to talk about revolting and putting out the newspaper themselves, it electrifies Moberg. He starts to wake up, and become really passionate about it.  That was my own little arc that I was trying to add in.”

Moberg is responsible for encouraging the alcohol and drug abuse in his amigos, Kemp and Sala. “There was this new concept of altering your mind with certain substances. I think Moberg had been doing that for a long time,” says Ribisi. “He also scavenges filters from the rum distillery and produces the moonshine that they drink, which is about four hundred and seventy proof, if that’s possible!” he laughs.

For the role of San Juan Star editor Lotterman, Robinson chose character actor Richard Jenkins. “He played the role brilliantly,” says Robinson. “Lotterman is a hysterical old-style journo, who was probably a sub at The Baltimore Sun for 40 years. Now he is a seething nervous wreck, trying to run his own newspaper, and trying to hold it all together.

There’s a scene at the beginning of the movie, which I hope will be amusing, when Lotterman explains to Kemp that he is looking for some fresh blood to make the thing work, and he believes Kemp is the man that can do it. However, the whole place is awash with rum! It’s not by accident that it is called The Rum Diary. Everyone’s completely smashed all the way through the movie!” laughs Robinson.

Depp remembers the initial struggle to find the right actor to play Lotterman. “‘Who in the world can we get to play this part?’” he recalls saying. “We went through a few names here and there—‘Nah, nah, nah, they don’t seem right; he’s too pushy, he’s too this, he’s too that.’ And then bang, suddenly Richard Jenkins came to mind and we were like, ‘We’ll never get him.’ Boom, got him! We just offered him the part and got him! It was miraculous. He came in and kicked it straight in the ass.

He’s the most solid rock that everything revolves around. It’s because of him that everyone works in terms of character, how far you go and how far you don’t go, what you hold back and what you give out. It’s because of Richard Jenkins’s gravitas that a character like Giovanni Ribisi’s coming in there works.”

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