John Waters talks Hollywood, his process and the one thing he knows he never said

Adam Graham The Detroit News (TNS)

For a guy known for going to extremes, there are still some lines of decency John Waters is not willing to cross.

Waters, the transgressive filmmaker whose trash masterpieces (trash-terpieces?) “Pink Flamingos” and “Desperate Living” scandalized cinemas in the 1970s, has been gleefully pushing boundaries for more than 50 years.

And he’s shown no signs of slowing down. In recent years, he’s acted, written books, done spoken word projects — his latest holiday single, “Happy Birthday Jesus,” a cover of a 1950s novelty single by Little Cindy, was released earlier this month — and he regularly tours. In his latest show, “Going to Extremes,” he tries to make sense of a world that has gone mad, even by his standards.

I chatted with Waters earlier this month