From KCRW, Santa Monica and KCRW.com, this is The Treatment.

Welcome to the treatment, which you can also hear at KCRW.com.

I first saw my guest director Matthew Lowe

when he was an actor. My first night at Sundance in 1999 was the debut of a little film called

SLC Punk. Most of us know him for that, or his roles in Scream or Wicker Park, which I think is

an interesting little movie. He's now a director in addition to being an actor. His directorial

debut is the adaptation of the book. Fat Kid Rules the World. Thanks so much for being here, Matthew.

I'm thrilled to be here. I want to bring up SLC Punk because that night of that first

screening at Sundance, which is my first time there, the audience so connected with Stevo. I mean,

they really did. And you've been saying that this has been kind of your entree into a lot

of worlds affected so many people latched on to that character what do you think it was about him that

people dug so much i think that there's a couple things one the energy of punk rock music the

energy of that movie i think was infusive i think that people are attracted to it. It's funny. And it has, it's great.

There's a scene in that movie that's probably the highlight of my acting career is that there's a

scene in that movie where my best friend dies heroin, Bob, and I lose my mind and end up sobbing

and crying. And there's real pathos in that movie. So there's energy and real emotional stakes.

And I think that people relate to that.

And I think the other thing is that it was the best about independent film.

You know, it's outside the box.

And it just struck a chord.

And it's also a movie that's built for a demographic of disenfranchised punk rock kids. And generation

after generation keeps finding that movie and owning that film and rediscovering that film. And I think

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