Random Reminiscing: Looking Back at my Many Random Roles Interviews (Part 10 of Quite a Few)

With the 10th anniversary of my career as a freelance pop culture journalist coming up on April 1st, I’m feeling a tad nostalgic, so I decided that I wanted to start looking back at the portion of my freelance career of which I’m most proud: my Random Roles interviews for the A.V. Club.

If you accidentally missed the previous part of this reminiscing, you can check it out by clicking right here…and if you missed the part before that, well, each installment has a link to the previous installment in the intro, so just keep on clicking back until you’ve read ‘em all!

If you’re all up to date, though, then for heaven’s sake, why are you wasting time with this intro? Just dive right in!

Corey Feldman:

Meatballs 4 (1992)—“Ricky Wade”
Voodoo (1995)—“Andy”

As amazing as it may sound to anyone who hasn’t seen it, there’s a scene from Meatballs 4 on YouTube featuring you and Jack Nance that, if you didn’t know its origins, you could easily be convinced was from some lost ’90s drama.

Corey Feldman: Actually, I can explain that: The movie that we were making wasn’t the movie that they ended up marketing and promoting. That’s why you noticed the, uh, extreme difference in what you were watching. [Laughs.] Because when I agreed to do that movie, I agreed to do a movie called Happy Campers, which was kind of a romantic comedy, but it was a comedy-drama as well. A regular comedy but with some hard-hitting, serious moments. Kind of a Happy Gilmore/Billy Madison vibe, where it’s very funny, tongue-in-cheek, but then there’s also the seriousness of the implications of the plotline and all that. It would’ve actually been a pretty good movie on its own merits.

But unbeknownst to us on the set, as we were in the process of making the film, the producers decided to go out and make a deal with HBO to run it as a first-run feature, and they said that the only way that they would want to do that was if it was a franchise movie. So they said, “Well, what kind of franchises do you have available?” “Hey, how about Meatballs? We can call it a Meatballs movie!” “Okay, great!” They literally made the decision to make it Meatballs 4 after we were already on set. As I’m sure you would be aware from looking over my career, a third sequel to a movie that I was never involved with originally is not really something that I would jump into. [Laughs.] So I never signed up to do Meatballs 4, nor would I have signed up to do Meatballs 4. I was completely swindled on that one. 

Do you at least have fond recollections of working with Jack Nance?

Jack was great. Actually, Jack and I also did a drama together. I don’t know which one was first, but we did another film together called Voodoo. Do you know which one was first or second?

Voodoo was second.

Meatballs was our first one, so on Meatballs we were just getting to know each other, and we were both sober. We were both 12-step recovery people. I found that very appealing, because I was just fresh out of rehab, which is part of the reason I got swindled on it. It was also because I didn’t have all my business savvy yet. I was still a kid, and I was still trying to figure out how to be a man in the business world and be responsible and take care of my own business, vs. letting my parents dealing with it and that kind of stuff. But being newly sober, it was very frustrating to try and assimilate what exactly was expected of me as a sober individual on a movie set. It was a new experience. And Jack was great, because he had been sober for many years, and he really had it together and he was a super-nice guy.

He would tell me all these stories about how he was messed up, and he had done so much work with David Lynch. He said, “Literally, there was a point when I was walking, stumbling down Hollywood Boulevard in my rags with no shoes on, stinking of alcohol and unshaved, and I look up at the marquee, and there’s a movie with my name over the title. Then I’d walk down the street, and a few buildings later I see another movie that I’m in. There were three movies playing on the same block and I’m in all of them, and here I am, this raging alcoholic looking like a homeless man. Nobody would know if they ran into me that I was actually a guy who was starring in all of these movies.” That was kind of what made us hit it off and have the connection that we did.

As an actor, he was brilliant. He had such a dynamic performance in everything he did. Sometimes to the extreme, to where he was such an oddball that he literally seemed like he was overacting much of the time. But a lot of that came from the fact that… I mean, when you start your career as Eraserhead, and your entire career is based on doing the obscure and avant-garde type films that he did, that makes it really hard to wrangle yourself into a “normal” movie, which is basically what he had to do for Meatballs 4. I was very sad about the way his life ended. Just a sad, sad story.

Tess Harper:

Starflight One a.k.a. Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Land (1983)—“Janet Briggs”

Tess arper: [Monotone.] The…plane…that…could…not…land! [Sighs.] I’ll tell you the most interesting thing about that horrible piece of crap. That was with the Six Million Dollar Man [Lee Majors] and Lauren Hutton, but I met Ray Milland on that set. One morning, Ray Milland came into the costume department, where we’re getting wardrobe, makeup, hair, whatever, and he looks at me and he says, “How old do you think I am?” And I said, “What?” “How old do you think I am?” I said, “Uh, I don’t know, sir. About 70? 75?” He said, “I’m 85! And it’s boring! And I hate it!”

The great Ray Milland was in a honey wagon. That’s when I realized that it doesn’t matter who you are, there’ll be a time when you’re back in your honey wagon. Which, if your readers don’t know what that is, it’s a little bitty tiny trailer with a bathroom in it that you wait in ’til you’re called to the set. Most people, once you have one or two titles to your name, you’re not supposed to ever have to go back to honey wagons. But an 85-year-old man, walking up the stairs to a honey wagon, it’ll break your heart. And it’ll happen to all of us.

Bill Pullman:

Brain Dead (1990)—“Rex Martin”

Bill Pullman: Oh, you know, I just went for a long trip down memory lane with Catherine Hardwicke. She’s a great director now and everything, but back then she was a production designer, and I was just at a party two nights ago, and we said, “Hey, remember that whole thing of shooting at the lumber yard on Lincoln that Roger Corman had?” Just some amazing memories of how movies were made in that Corman style. Brain Dead has had, I think, a kind of life that a lot of those movies didn’t get. It seemed to be picked up as a cult favorite by some champions. I also remember it was one of the first movies I was in that was made into a DVD and not just VHS. I was struck by that. Because of that, it didn’t seem to just fade away. And it was also a chance to work with Bill Paxton!

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that.

Yeah! I’d always loved him, and we’ve gotten together since then and gotten to know each other and kept in touch. Maybe infrequently, but we’ve stayed in touch. And every once in a while, I’ll get a script with his name on it and he’ll get something with my name on it. [Laughs.]

But Brain Dead is still the only film where, if someone asks, “Is that the one with Bill Pullman or Bill Paxton?” the answer is simply, “Yes.”

[Laughs.] Exactly. It’s that whole B.P. thing, you know? It’s curious. But, you know, I think it’s also a good litmus test for whether people are really paying attention or not when they watch movies.

There’s actually a “Paxton or Pullman” quiz online, where people have to identify which of you was in which film.

Is there? Well, I could see that that could be a challenge, actually. Between the two of us, it’s a hell of an oeuvre. [Laughs.]

C. Thomas Howell:

The Outsiders (1983)—“Ponyboy Curtis”

C. Thomas Howell: Yeah, that was just an opportunity of a lifetime, but I was so young that I probably didn’t appreciate how big the opportunity was. I’d seen Apocalypse Now, I’d seen The Black Stallion. I don’t think I’d watched The Godfather at that point, but I didn’t really know who Francis Ford Coppola was, or what he meant to the business. Working with him was an amazing experience, but that’s all I could really draw upon: the moment I was in, sharing that with him and learning what I was able to learn at such a young age.

I’m still close to S.E. Hinton, who wrote the original novel. The book is required reading in about 75 percent of our schools across the nation. All of my kids had to read the book in sixth, seventh, eighth grade, and it still affects so many of our young people. I can’t tell you how many people will come up to me and say something about it, whether they’re parents or kids themselves. I hear from so many parents, “Yeah, my son, my daughter, had a real hard time reading books until they had to read The Outsiders, and they fell in love with that book, then they watched the film, and not only is it their favorite movie, but they read constantly now.”

When we made The Outsiders, I had no idea that that book and that film would go on to the sort of iconic status it’s reached. I mean, that novel is mentioned along with greats such as Catcher In The Rye. It’s truly amazing to see it happen to this book that S.E. Hinton wrote when she was 16, 17 years old. It started out as an essay, and she turned it in to her English teacher, who said, “Hey, you should really make this a novel!” And she followed through with it, and it turned out to become what it’s become, which has been really mind-blowing over the years. I think last year alone, it probably sold something like five or six million copies. And that book was written in the late ’60s!

What an amazing thing to be a part of and to cut your teeth on. I’m so proud to have played Ponyboy Curtis and to have worked with Francis Ford Coppola and shared that with the cast that was put together. I mean, Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane… everybody! And Patrick Swayze, who was such a major part of my life for so long. I did three films with Patrick [the others were Grandview U.S.A. and Red Dawn] before he passed. When you look back on films, it’s so rare to have a cast like that, who start out so young and move on to be such a prevalent part of this town. I’m very, very proud to have come from that sort of… frathouse, really. [Laughs.] And to have shared that with those guys. And I know each and every one of those guys, from reading different interviews and still staying in touch with them, they all feel the same thing. We’re so proud to have come from that cut, and to have shared that together, it affected all of our lives so deeply.

And it still affects my life today! I’d say probably 70 percent of my Twitter followers are 13, 14, 15-year-old girls who have just discovered The Outsiders and have fallen in love with Ponyboy. And Johnny and Dally and whoever. The digital age is upon us, and they now have a way to reach out to those people who played those characters. It’s just amazing.

Anthony Edwards:

It Takes Two (1982-1983)—“Andy Quinn”

It’s all over the Internet that you supposedly had an uncredited role as a dental patient in the pilot of Police Squad! but using this interview as an excuse to re-watch that episode, it appears to be untrue.

Anthony Edwards: A dental patient in Police Squad!? Oh, my God. [Laughs.] Well, I can tell you honestly that I don’t remember doing that, so someone’s going to have to actually show it to me to prove that it’s true, because I don’t believe it is.

In that case, then, your first venture into the world of sitcoms must’ve been It Takes Two.

Yeah. Yeah, it was. [Laughs.] That, uh, got me out of college. I’d had two years at USC when I did Fast Times, and then came this sitcom with Richard Crenna and Patty Duke, along with a friendship that started with Helen Hunt that goes on to this day. Just a bit ago, I woke up to find Helen nominated for another Academy Award! But the sitcom world… what a bizarre thing, to rehearse for however long and then shoot on a sound stage, having an audience. It’s like Kabuki theater. It’s just a whole other style. It’s really wild.

And that’s really the only sitcom you’ve ever done, right?

Right. Well, except for the one I got fired from. [Laughs.] I did a pilot for one, and I was fired and replaced by Chris Meloni! It was called The Boys, and it was… oh, God, who was it? The guy from Deliverance. Great character actor, squeals like a pig… Ned Beatty! It was written for Ned Beatty, I believe. But for whatever reason, I just wasn’t funny enough or whatever, and I was fired straight away after that pilot, which was a very humbling experience!

Eric Roberts:

King Of The Gypsies (1978)—“Dave”

Given how many films you have to your credit at this point, it’s a little odd to look back at King Of The Gypsies and see the credit, “Introducing Eric Roberts.”

Eric Roberts: Yeah, I had a couple of auditions for it. They asked me to screen test and I forget the exact date, but it was something like the third week of January 1978, and there was a huge ice storm in New York that closed down the city. The only things running were the subways, but they were running at something like 10 percent of their usual. There wasn’t a car to be seen on the road. And I walked from the Upper West Side, which at the time was a slum. It had not become the hip place that it is now. I walked down to Columbus Circle for my screen test. They were three hours behind, so I went in there and I went to sleep. When they woke me up, they said, “It’s time for your screen test, Eric,” so I got up and went to hair and makeup. They combed my hair, they powdered my nose, and then I walked in front of a camera… I got lucky. I got my first movie. Thanks to Frank Pierson. He wrote King Of The Gypsies, Dog Day Afternoon, Cat Ballou, and a lot of other great movies. He also directed King Of The Gypsies; he and Dino De Laurentiis hired me and changed my life.

You worked with a lot of great people on that film, but you’ve mentioned before that you were particularly thrilled about getting to work with Sterling Hayden.

Yeah, I’d already been shooting on the film for about three weeks, and we went into night shoots in the fourth week. My first night working with Sterling Hayden was his first day on the film. I’m in my trailer, and I get a knock on my door, and the second assistant director says, “Mr. Hayden would like to meet you and talk to you about the scene tonight.” I’m like, “Cool! I can’t wait!” So I go over to his trailer and knock on the door, and I hear him say, “Come in, come in!” I open the door and—whoosh!—hashish smoke in my face. [Laughs.] He is smoking hash in a pipe!

He says, “Have a seat, young man!” I have a seat. He asks me if I want to get high. I say, “No, because I can’t talk when I get high, and I have to act tonight.” He goes, “Okay, okay. So let’s talk about what we’re doing tonight! What are we shooting?” I said, “That would be Scene 87, sir.” He goes, “Oh, I know the number. But what the f—- happens?” And it’s a very pivotal scene. I’ve run away, and he comes and he nabs me off of the street and takes me home, blah blah blah. It’s a big-deal scene. So I told him that, and he goes, “Okay! How are you at improvisation, young man?” I said, “I’m okay with it.” He said, “Okay, ’cause that’s what we’re doing tonight.” So all our stuff together is all improv, and it’s all extraordinary, because he was extraordinary.

You’ve also been quoted as saying of your experiences on the film, “I learned everything not to do on a movie set from Shelley Winters,” although you didn’t elaborate.

[Cackles.] That was rude of me, wasn’t it? Shelley gave me my first real “oh, my God” start on a movie set. Like, let’s say it’s 11:25 a.m. right now. Shelley would say out of nowhere, “What time is it? I have to be in a car leaving at 11:30.” And everybody would say, “Uh, it’s 9 a.m., Shelley,” or whatever. And I would think, “God, they’re lying to Shelley Winters! I wonder if I should tell her the truth.” Then I realized that that was just what she did. That was her humor. But she made me a very nervous young actor.

Stacy Keach:

Fat City (1972)—“Tully”
Lights Out (2011)—“Robert ‘Pops’ Leary”

Stacy Keach: I loved playing Pops Leary because I had boxing experience many years ago, when I did Fat City with John Huston. And having been trained by José Torres, I felt very much at home with Pops Leary, because he was a dad/trainer. It was great getting back in the ring. It felt good. I was just so disappointed when it didn’t take off [as a series]. Holt McCallany’s not just a wonderful actor, he’s also a great guy. As a matter of fact, it was on Lights Out, and with Holt, that I met Stuart Miller, a journalist, who said, “If you ever want to do a memoir, you should get in touch with me.” And he just happens to be the guy who’s sitting with me now, even as I’m speaking to you. [Laughs.] And it was all because of Lights Out. So Lights Out is a very special project for me in more ways than just playing Pops Leary.

How was the experience of working with John Huston on Fat City?

He was one of those directors who was just magical, because he’s not only an actor and a wonderful director but also a writer. So working with him, I was very much at home. He would let the actors direct scenes themselves, or at least stage them. The scene with Susan Tyrrell in the apartment, where we’re having dinner, he said, “All right, you guys work out where you’re gonna move and what you want to do in this scene, then come and call me, and I’ll come and take a look at it.” He did that with a number of scenes. He said, “Figure out what you want to do, then show me what it is.” Then he’d come in, and he would tweak it here and there and make little changes. But it was wonderful, because everything was very organic in that respect. It came out of the actors themselves rather than something that our director told the actors to do. And it was really wonderful working that way.

During the fight sequence, after we choreographed the fighting, he said, “All right, boys, I’ve seen how it’s staged, now I want you to get in the ring and box. Just get out there.” And Sixto Rodriguez [no relation to this Sixto Rodriguez —ed.], my sparring partner in that scene, was a professional fighter who’d had 87 professional fights. He was a light heavyweight. He never got a shot at the title, but he was at one point a contender. And he was built like a… he had these arms of steel, and he said, “Man, you can hit me as hard as you want!” And I hit him in the stomach one time, and he had a natural reaction as a boxer: a right hand came flying out of nowhere and knocked me out. Knocked me cold. And that’s the shot John Huston used in the movie. [Laughs.]

Giancarlo Esposito:

Sesame Street (1982)—“Mickey”

Giancarlo Esposito: Oh. My. Goodness. [Laughs.] That job was one of the best jobs I ever had. I was totally broke. I was a young actor who was 23 and playing 17, I had no money, and I needed the gig so bad. I had worked for RKO, doing voiceovers for black kids who didn’t speak very well. I was just at the end of my rope, and I auditioned for Sesame Street, and I was like, “How stupid is this? Sesame Street?” And I ended up working with a master: Caroll Spinney. An absolute master, and you never saw him! He was always in that silly suit as Big Bird.

But what I learned from that show was that there are never any small parts or any small characters. You could be inside a bird costume and still have an incredible effect. I absolutely loved that job, because it was like taking care of a big kid! Mickey’s all practical; he’s a guy who’s Big Bird’s camp counselor for a couple of weeks. But that provided me with a couple of weeks’ work and an opportunity to work with a master. You see Big Bird, but you rarely see who he is. You kind of do, though. You feel his mastery. How wild is life, that you only see him through his feathers? [Laughs.] He affected my life in a major way.

I [sang] the theme song for The Electric Company, too. [Sings.] “We’re gonna turn it on! We’re gonna bring you the power!” [Laughs.] I was never on the show, but I sang on the song. It’s great for all this stuff to be revealed now, because I have four kids. Mickey gives them a chance to see me in a very different light, and I’m very proud of that.