This was filmed the day Johnny Thunders died, April 23, 1991.
In his only scene, Dee Dee portrays a damaged Vietnam Vet named Dougie (his real name). Directed by Rachel Amodeo, who appears in this scene, “What About Me” is a low budget film about New York’s Lower East Side of the 80s that is gone forever. Also starring Richard Hell, Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan, Nick Zedd.
From Dee Dee’s “Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones”: “After we finished my scene, we called it a wrap and went over to Rachel’s apartment to relax and smoke some weed. When we got there the phone rang. It was Stevie (Klasson), the guitar player in Johnny’s band. “Rachel, he said. “John died. He’s dead”.(pg 232)
Dee Dee continues: “But I was still out of control. The reality is that methadone was not blocking my craving for street drugs. I shot up quarter grams of cocaine for a couple of days. Then I went over to the Continental Divide for a tribute concert for John… It was too much for me. I went down to the Bowery and got drunk. The next day I shot up some dope. I just didn’t give a damn anymore.” (pg 233)
