Arielle Holmes Explained

Arielle Holmes
Birth Date:17 September 1993
Birth Place:United States
Years Active:2014–2016

Arielle Holmes (born September 17, 1993) is an American actress and writer. She is best known for starring as a semi-fictionalized version of herself in the film Heaven Knows What (2014), based on an unpublished memoir she wrote at the behest of the film's directors, Josh and Benny Safdie.

Early life

Holmes was born in the United States on September 17, 1993, the daughter of an American mother and Irish father. She grew up in Bayonne, New Jersey. She had her first experience with crack cocaine when she smoked it with her mother at the age of 12. She was raised by relatives in Bayonne after her mother passed away; her father had left the family while she was a baby. She dropped out of school in the 10th grade and moved to New York City to live with her boyfriend, Ilya Leontyev, but the two fell into heavy drug and alcohol abuse. Holmes first tried heroin at the age of 17,[1] and was largely homeless for the next three years.[2] [3]

Career

Holmes was scouted by Heaven Knows What (2014) directors Josh and Benny Safdie in Manhattan's Diamond District, while they were working on a different film that would eventually become Uncut Gems (2019).[4] She had been hired as an unpaid intern by a jeweler who saw her sketching on a subway train.[5] Intrigued by her life story, Josh hired her to write a memoir, for which she was paid per page. The resulting unpublished book, Mad Love in New York City, served as the basis for the screenplay of Heaven Knows What.[6] The film was dedicated to Holmes' ex-boyfriend Leontyev, who was found dead of an overdose in Central Park in April 2015.[7]

Holmes asked the Safdie brothers to help her get clean after completing Heaven Knows What, and she completed rehab at Lucida Treatment Center in Lantana, Florida. She later settled in Los Angeles. She appeared in the 2016 films American Honey[8] and .[9]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2014Heaven Knows WhatHarleyBased on her unpublished memoir
2016American HoneyPagan
2016Kix

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 'Heavens Knows What' star knows all about the street life film depicts . Los Angeles Times . June 1, 2015.
  2. Web site: The Star on the Sidewalk: How Arielle Holmes Went From Homeless Addict to Hollywood Actress . Vulture . May 21, 2015.
  3. Web site: NYFF Report: 'Heaven Knows What' Star Arielle Holmes Talks About Her Journey From Homelessness and Drug Addiction . Yahoo . October 6, 2014.
  4. Web site: 'Heaven Knows What' Captures the Hooked and Homeless . The New York Times . May 14, 2015.
  5. Web site: 'Heaven Knows What' Adds New Wrinkles to the Street Junkie Narrative . NPR . May 29, 2015.
  6. Web site: Drugs, destruction and movie glory: how Arielle Holmes rose from the streets . The Guardian . July 2, 2015.
  7. Web site: Olsen. Mark. 'Heavens Knows What' star knows all about the street life film depicts. Los Angeles Times. 24 August 2015.
  8. Web site: 'Heaven Knows What' Star Arielle Holmes Joins Andrea Arnold's 'American Honey' . Deadline . June 1, 2015.
  9. Web site: '2307: Winter's Dream Trailer:It's Mad Max on Ice. Slash Film. Ethan. Anderton. May 18, 2016. May 21, 2016.