Previously Unpublished: An Interview with Toni Hudson (JUST ONE OF THE GUYS)
Once upon a long ago, there was a film-centric website called The Dissolve, and oh what a wonderful website it was. Unfortunately, it was apparently too wonderful to last for more than a few years, but during that time, I was proud to be one of its contributors. In fact, just before they closed up shop, I was just starting to put together an oral history of the 1985 teen comedy Just One of the Guys…and I do mean that I was only just starting to put it together, which is to say that I’d only actually done one interview for the piece: Toni Hudson, who played Denise in the film.
It was a super fun interview, and I had high hopes that any future interviews that I might do for the piece would be just as entertaining, but when The Dissolve called it a day, my editor - the always outrageous Keith Phipps - moved over to Uproxx, and although he’d originally been all about the idea of my taking the piece and doing it for him there, once he arrived, he found out that they were already in the middle of working on such a piece.
D’oh…
Understanding the situation but still feeling bummed, I set aside the interview with Toni Hudson and proceeded to do precisely nothing with it…until now.
You’re welcome, Substack supporters!
How did you first find your way into Just One of the Guys? Was it a standard audition, or did they know you from something else?
Toni Hudson: No, I was with William Morris and a really big agent over there named Ed Bondy, and they sent me on an audition, and I got a callback. I think I went in for the lead role. I think everybody did. It was, like, "Bring 'em all in," and then they start going, "Oh, but she'd be good for the best friend!" So when I came in again for the callback, I read for the best friend...and I got it!
So was that your first film role, or had you been acting prior to that?
I was actually one of the more seasoned actors on the set at that moment. [Laughs.] My first movie was Young Doctors in Love, which was also Garry Marshall's directorial debut, so he's like my surrogate dad now because of that whole experience. I was hired originally for one day's work, and I ended up working for twelve weeks! So that was my first movie, and then I did Cross Creek after that, which was an Academy Award-winning movie. I think it won for Best Cinematography. Mary Steenburgen starred in it, and it had Rip Torn, Malcolm McDowell... It was a really great movie.*
*While it was and remains a really great movie, it actually didn'twin any Oscars, nor was it nominated for Best Cinematography, but it did receive four Academy Award nominations: Best Supporting Actor (Rip Torn), Best Supporting Actress (Alfre Woodard), Best Costume Design (Joe J. Tompkins), and Best Music, Original Score (Leonard Rosenman).
So that was my second movie, and then... [Hesitates.] I might've even done another not-so-good movie called School Spirit. [Laughs.] But then I did Just One of the Guys!
Now that I've successfully managed to pull up IMDb, I realize that Places in the Heart was right around the same time, too.
Yes! All of those were right around the same time. But, yes, Places in the Heart with Sally Field, which led to her famous "you love me, you really love me" speech. She won that for that movie! And there's a cute story about when I found out I got the part, because... [Abruptly.] Oh! Here's a story! You're gonna love this, Will Harris!
I already can't wait.
Deborah Goodrich, who plays the prom queen in Just One of the Guys, we've become best friends through this movie. We've been through each other's childbirth, we're tight as all get out. She's one of my best friends in life. But she knew about me before she went on location in Scottsdale for Just One of the Guys because she was the one who was up against me for the part in Places in the Heart!
Wow.
Yeah, so she found out who got this part, and it was this girl Toni Hudson, who she of course immediately didn't like. And then when she booked Just One of the Guys and found out that Toni Hudson was co-starring in the movie, she was, like, "Oh, no, I have to go meet this person?!" And then she told me the story. Well, I flew myself to Waxahachie, Texas when the whole cast of Places in the Heart was already there rehearsing, and then I was going to be flying home, not knowing if my last dime that I'd spent to fly there was a stupid thing to do... [Laughs.] ...or a good thing to do. I had no idea as I was going home! But then Robert Benton came out and said, "Pending that we can make a deal, the part is yours."
So I went from sitting in the motel lobby by myself to a room full of phones ringing, faxes going, and there's Sally Field and Danny Glover and Amy Madigan and Ed Harris, all having lunch. Things are buzzing...and now I'm part of everything! And Sally comes over, and she got introduced to me, and they said, "She's playing Ermine Hightower." And she said, "Did you just find out?!" I said, "Yeah!" She said, "Oh, my God, I got goosebumps!" It was just a really cool experience. So Deborah and I have a connection through that movie.
You were right: I did love that. That was awesome. So you and Deborah became friends, but how quickly were you able to bond with Joyce Hyser, who actually played your best friend in the movie?
Actually, we got along...eventually. [Laughs.] My story is that... Well, I mean, she didn't hate me or anything! Goodness, no. But we weren't, like, "Hey, nice to meet you!" It was kind of a standoffish thing. I was the typical blonde girl, and she was the not-so-typical girl who was playing the hot girl in the school, and... I don't know, there was a lot going on. But by the time Bruce Springsteen came to visit her on set, because he was touring... [Hesitates.] I don't think she'll mind me saying that he came to visit.
They were boyfriend and girlfriend for a long time, and they were broken up, but they were still friend, so he stopped by. And by the time he came... Because it was, like, "Don't talk to him, don't take pictures..." But while Joyce was filming, I'm sitting in my director's chair, and who should be sitting next to me but Bruce? So we chatted up the day, and of course she's looking over at me, and I'm thinking she's hating me, but it ended up being a good thing, and it kind of loosened everybody up. And then we started hanging out down there sometimes. Not a lot.
Deborah and I hung out a lot. Deborah and I, and Arye Gross, and BIlly Zapka, and Clayton Rohner, that was a crew. And then there was Sherilyn [Fenn], and...it was a fun time!
I was fortunate enough to do an interview with Sherilyn awhile back, and she remembered the film fondly.
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, Sherilyn's always known who she was and what her style was, even back then when she was starting out. Was that her first movie?
It wasn't, but it was pretty close to it.
Yeah, I knew it was one of her first. But she was determined to have the look she wanted. That look in that movie was all her. She created that look and really wanted it. She understood fashion, and she was really good at it. And she was tough on everybody, but she got what she wanted!
Oh, and this is another thing about when I first got there. I don't even know if you know this, but Dirk Benedict is my ex-husband, and... This is me being really frank, but I think maybe my entrance onto the set might've made people think more of me than I was, because he flew me there in our own plane.
Well, this is me being really frank and admitting that I never who's dating who or who's married to who, because I didn't even know you used to be married to Dirk Benedict.
Oh, God, yeah. He's the father to my two older kids, and my older son, George Benedict, is now acting. In fact, he was just in a movie with Linda Purl recently. It's pretty amazing to see him start his career. But, yeah, Dirk and I spent our holidays together with both our boys up in Montana.
That's great that you have that relationship. So regarding the character of Denise, do you remember if there was any particular tweaking of the part once you got it, or were you able to pretty much just play it as written?
Well, what I really loved that Lisa Gottlieb did... She had two weeks of rehearsal before we even started shooting, so when we got down there, they took their time in reference to building the relationships and the characters. That was really cool. So we kind of fell into the roles through those two weeks of rehearsal, so by the time we got in front of the camera, Joyce had it down, Billy Jacoby was definitely the pain-in-the-butt little brother that his character was supposed to be, Zabkra was all puffed up, and Rick - Clayton Rohner - was just this innocent-bystander guy who's creative and challenging. So the characters just kind of went in. And I just... [Hesitates.] I mean, it's kind of a thankless part I have: I'm not the heroine, I don't do anything, I'm just kind of the buffer everywhere. So it was a challenge to make the best-friend role interesting.
Was there anything that you were able to add to it that wasn't actually scripted?
Well, I know we put a line in - and I think we put it in later - because the character of the best friend was supposed to be more quirky, more of a character actor rather than looking like a leading lady. But because I was prettier than they actually wanted, they gave me the one line that defines my character: at the prom, I say, "I love the fact that nobody here knows that I used to be fat!" So my character was somebody who used to be fat, looks really good now, but is still insecure like the fat girl she used to be. She could never get a date, and I looked the way I did, so they had to give me a reason why I couldn't get one. And I got to pick which band guy I wanted to be my guy at the prom. That was fun. [Laughs.] And it was my birthday during shooting, so I remember everyone celebrating my birthday and that there was a big birthday cake.
So at what point did you realize that there was a cult following building up around the film? Because it did just fine at the box office, but now the film is pretty much a phenomenon, one of those movies you hold up as a definitive teen comedy of the decade.
I really think you're right, because it so defines the angst of that age group in the '80s and what everyone was searching for and what boys were focused on, and they just made such a cute little story that made light of it. But, yeah, it just defines that era. War Games, Valley Girl, Sixteen Candles and all those John Hughes films... It was kind of piggy-backing on that, celebrating that era in its own twisted little way. [Laughs.]
But I realized the enduring popularity, I think, after years and years had gone by, and I was in a store in Ohio, shopping for a last-minute Christmas present, and the salesperson - who's probably 20 - looks at me and says, "Oh, my God! Were you Denise in Just One of the Guys?" And I'm, like, "Really?" [Laughs.] "That's, like, 12 years ago, person! When were you watching this movie?" But then it started happening. I'd get guys coming over and saying, "Hey, we have a bet: he thinks you're that chick who was in that movie Just One of the Guys, I say you're not." And I'd say, "He wins!"
That's got to feel complimentary, though, that it's been that many years and they still recognize you from the film.
Yeah, I've been told that I don't look that much different. In fact, somebody tweeted when my episode of Knight Rider that I guest-starred on hit its 30th anniversary, and they tweeted out a picture of me and David Hasselhoff on set in between takes, and somebody replied, "You don't look any different, and that was 30 years ago!" Well, I am 30 years older, definitely, but...that's not bad! [Laughs.]
When I interviewed Maura Tierney, she seemed surprised that someone had come up to her only a few days earlier and said, "Oh, my God, I loved you in Liar, Liar!" And I said, "Well, it's not like you look any different." And she said, "Well, if I feel different, doesn't that count?"
It's so true! [Laughs.] But, yeah, that's when I kind of knew that the film had longevity, that it's got legs and it's hanging in there. People were saying, "I watch that movie all the time!" Or "I own that movie!" In fact, I'm a rehearsal actor for live television - that's like my waitress job between roles - and one of the line producers, he sheepishly brought in the DVD of Just One of the Guys and had me sign the case. And I had no idea, but he'd been a fan of mine for years! It's really weird how it pops up now and then.
I don't know the last time you personally revisited the film, but if it's been relatively recently, how do you think it's held up? Because some '80s films really do hold up, while others are just kind of artifacts of their time.
Well, it definitely still plays. But because of the very specific choices in music and the style of clothing, it's dated. But if that's what you're going for, if you want to revisit the '80s, then it plays genius. [Laughs.] It's gonna deliver 100%!
Do you have a particular favorite scene, whether it's one featuring Denise or not?
Yeah, I think a lot of the scenes with Joyce and Billy Jacoby and me in the bedroom. You know, all the bedroom scenes with her becoming a boy, then becoming a girl, then asking me to go to the prom, and he's hitting on me... The more private moments. It's not at the prom, it's not at the school. I like those. I like those moments. They were just cool for the experience. Maybe it doesn't show for the audience, but for me shooting them, it was some of the most fun I had.
How was Billy Jacoby to work with, given that he played the sex-fiend little brother to perfection? Being as he was actually a teenage boy, I'd think that on some level he'd legitimately enjoy the flirtation with teenage girls.
Yeah, but he was cool. Really, everyone was so cool. When I said to you that it seemed like Joyce wasn't overly friendly at first, she loosened up. She just wasn't as open at first. And I don't know what the reason was, actually. She might even deny to this day! But after awhile, everyone was... We were just a team. We were a bunch of young kids having fun in Arizona!
It's interesting that it was filmed in Arizona. All things being equal, it's not where you'd expect to find out that an '80s teen comedy was filmed.
Well, it was a deserted high school, and it was sitting there empty, so they put us up in the Double Tree Inns that were right nearby. So there were trips to Sedona that the cast would take. Oh, and I don't know if you know this tidbit about the movie, but the role of the college boyfriend was recast after the guy was already there shooting some of his stuff, but he became a friend of mine. His name was Alex MacArthur, and he had the role instead of Leigh McCloskey, but what happened was... Alex was really good, and he was really handsome, and they wanted somebody who was not as good and maybe not as handsome. [Laughs.] So they recast him!
You were right: that's another tidbit that I did not know.
See? I can share a whole bunch of shit that people aren't telling you! [Laughs.]