--- description: The novelist, playwright, and advocate talks to TIME about his life and work title: Larry Kramer Interview: Act-Up, AIDS Activism image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa37b6142053db79/6988552f8e06016ba04610a0/aa0245-00_02_12_22-still003.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # AIDS Activist Larry Kramer: 'I Don't Regret Anything I've Done or Said' by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/) and [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) Jun 18, 2015 3:56 PM CUT  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/) and [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) Jun 18, 2015 3:56 PM CUT Larry Kramer isn’t ready to slow down. In an interview with TIME, the AIDS activist, novelist, playwright, and subject of a new HBO documentary says that he has no qualms about his reputation as a provocateur: “I don’t regret anything I’ve done or said. No matter what you say, some people are going to like it and some people aren’t. So it hasn’t shut me up at all. Inside I’m just as tempestuous.” Indeed, provocation has been how Kramer has gotten results throughout his public life. Kramer’s work with ACT-UP brought attention to the AIDS crisis at a time when it was considered easier to look away; his work, including the play _The Normal Heart_ and new novel _The American People: Volume 1_, has served as a sort of literary canon for gay America. Kramer has a long memory. He still recollects Frank Rich’s review of the first _Normal Heart_ production. And he also remembers a more activist time in gay culture. “Now,” he says, “we don’t have people who are as frightened as we were”: A happy change, to be sure, but one that’s led to an abatement of protest. _The American People_ is on sale now, and the HBO documentary _Larry Kramer in Love and Anger_ airs June 29 at 9 p.m. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3926293/larry-kramer-activism-hbo-documentary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3926293/larry-kramer-activism-hbo-documentary/"},"headline":"AIDS Activist Larry Kramer: 'I Don't Regret Anything I've Done or Said'","datePublished":"2015-06-18T15:56:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T11:48:33.958Z","description":"The novelist, playwright, and advocate talks to TIME about his life and work","url":"https://time.com/3926293/larry-kramer-activism-hbo-documentary/","keywords":["Books","Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa37b6142053db79/6988552f8e06016ba04610a0/aa0245-00_02_12_22-still003.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel D'Addario","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa37b6142053db79/6988552f8e06016ba04610a0/aa0245-00_02_12_22-still003.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AA0245.00_02_12_22.Still003","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3926293/larry-kramer-activism-hbo-documentary/","name":"AIDS Activist Larry Kramer: 'I Don't Regret Anything I've Done or Said'"}}]}] ```