The film was not storyboarded and was made without a shot list.Fuller 1993, p. xxxiv. The campfire scene, originally just three pages, was expanded by Phoenix into an eight-page scene in which Mike professes his love for Scott, thereby making the character's homosexuality obvious, as opposed to Van Sant's more ambiguous original version. Phoenix described his process as his "own stream-of-consciousness, and this just happened to be one that was more than actor notes. Then Keanu and I refined it, worked on it, but it was all done quickly. It was something I wrote down a night, two nights, before, and then I showed it to Keanu and Gus. And Gus kept the whole thing. He didn't pare it down. It's a long scene." Phoenix has said that neither he nor Reeves felt uncomfortable with Idahos queerness.Rea, Steven. “An Eye on the Private River Phoenix.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 13 Oct. 1991, www.whoaisnotme.net/articles/1991_1013_ane.htm. When asked if he was worried that playing a gay prostitute might hurt his public image, Reeves said, "Hurt my image? Who am I—a politician? [laughs softly] No. I'm an actor. That wasn't a problem."Powell, Paige, and Gini Sikes. "My Own Private Idaho." Interview Magazine, Nov. 1991. https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/my-own-private-idaho
