I was a senior at Memorial High School in Tulsa. My agent called one day and asked if I wanted to audition for an extra part in a new movie called the "Outsiders". He added that Francis Ford Coppola would be the director. HELLO, the director of the Godfather, only a fool would not try to capitalize on this opportunity. I was cast as an extra for the rumble scene. We met at the Lowell Elementary School every day for weeks. We worked out (lifting, gymnastics, running) to prepare for the scene. Francis brought in some of the top stunt coordinators in the country to teach. Buddy Joe Hooker was the main stunt guy. He actually crashed a few rental cars during this period. We were always seperated into two very seperate groups as greasers and socs. We were strongly urged to "not" like the other side. Francis was very serious about the rumble scene and wanted everyone in top shape and doing things "exactly right" before filming. We learned how to fight and make it look real. This is not as easy as it might seem.
It was nothing for Tom Cruise and Emilio to drop in on us and pick fights. Those two actually put on boxing gloves and fought often. And man did they fight!!
Francis shot alot of the movie on video before the actuall filming. Fred Roos, casting director, came over to our work out on day and asked me if i would help him out on a project. Well Hello again, opportunity knocking once again! Patrick Swayze was filming another movie and couln't be in Tulsa until filming started. Fred wanted me to play the roll of Darry for the video shoot. What a blast that was. I played Darry in the Curtis house scenes and a few others. I remember being so excited to have my very own Outsiders script. I still have it today. When Patrick finally came, I still got to do other readings. As i watched the new DVD about the deleted scenes, I remembered and saw Darry carring me as Ponyboy back into the house.
I was then pulled again from our group to do a "special bit" part, as a Soc, with a friend of mine. We were the two Socs in the blue mustang with Leif Garrett and Darren Dalton. Little did I know, this meant we had to be on call the rest of the movie. Night scenes were shot from sun-down to sun-up. Day scenes were shot from sun-up to sun-down. It was simple...You had to be there all the time. There were so many nights that everyone was literally freezing their butts off. I continued to work with the rumble scene work outs on days that we weren't filming.
Francis did everything 100% and first class. We always had 5 star meals (of which he often cooked himself). By getting the special bit part, I got to eat the good stuff!! ...Steak, shrimp, lobster, ribs.
The casting parties Francis threw were unbelievable. Lots of wonderful food and drink. We all loved to party!! I took my sister to a casting party and Tom Cruise came up to me and asked
"who's that hot chic you brought with you", I replied disgusted "Dude, that's my sister". He wanted to meet her. From that day on, for about a month, they "dated". At that point, I became the chauffeur for some of the guys. Cruise, Emilio, Rob Lowe and Matt Dillon loved to party. And party we did!!! We went everywhere in town. Matt didn't go that much, he was too cool for school. Cruise, my sister, Emilio, Rob, and Leif Garrett all went to a movie one day before a night scene. Leif was alittle tipsy and was being rather rude to my sister. Cruise warned him repeatedly, but to no avail. Leif got really rude and Cruise punched him right in the nose. Francis was rather mad to find out we had to postpone that night scene do to Leif's distorted face!!! Actually it was quite humorous!
The fountain scene was a very lengthy and COLD scene to shoot. When we arrived at the park there were ducks in the fountain. The crew moved to the ducks and drained the fountain to prepare the fountain for underwater cameras, lights, and water heaters. The next day one duck made her way back and wouldn't leave. Francis decided to leave her and you may be able to see her in this scene.As we drove up in the mustang, we all had to "appear drunk". They took a whiskey bottle and glued an old label on it. This bottle was filled with tea. Leif had a flask, which was often filled with peppermint schnapps!! We came back the next evening to shoot the same scene, however, I had bought a bottle of whiskey and, while we drove the car off, I dumped the tea out and filled it with the good stuff. Late that evening Francis called a "wrap". The reason...we were all too drunk to continue!!! Needless to say, that was the last time we did this!! In Coppola style, the fountain scene had to be REAL. Pony was told to literally fight to stay out of the water. The little dude could really kick!! I was holding his right leg and got kicked a number of times. It was so cold, everytime we finished shooting the drowning, we had to change in some small trailers. I shared a trailer with Leif. As i went to change one night, i walked into the trailer, opened the door and saw a beautiful blonde in our trailer. That beautiful blonde was Leif's girlfriend, Nicolette Sheridan. I was pretty embarassed as i stripped naked in front of her. but heck, the assistant director is outside yelling "hurry up"! So, I just had to do it. It took many nights to complete this scene.
I always hated having to wear the "flood pants" as Emilio called them in the Tastee Freeze scene. It's just hard to realize they actually wore their pants like that back then. And the Soc's mostly had burr hair cuts. Not a good thing for a teenage boy that liked his long feathered hair! But realizing what you were a part of made it worth every moment.
I fought Emilio Estevez in the rumble scene. We rehearsed our fight often and with great detail. The rumble scene was very important to Francis and was very structured but with the Francis flair to look absolutely real. The first night of shooting it started raining. Most directors would have waited for a clear day. Not Francis. He instructed to keep shooting! I honestly believe there were more reasons to keep shooting...1)By this point in production, they were WAY over budget! 2)By this point in production they were WAY behind schedule! But none the less, the rain sure added an element of realism to the scene.With rain,many fake blows,
turned into real blows. I actually punched Emilio in the gut very hard at one point! He, being Emilio, laughed and said "I'll get ya back for that one"! It only rained that first night of shooting. Francis liked it so much, he brought in rain machines and big fans to make it look real for the many more nights of shooting this scene. And again, it was freezing.
I will give my brief description of the people i spent time with in the movie:
C. Thomas Howell...great kid with a big heart. worked his butt off. had to work with alot of older guys and took it pretty well. he always got picked on!
Ralph Macchio...consumate professional! worked as hard as anyone. taped my southern accent so he could talk like an Okie! very sincere and alot of fun.
Matt Dillon...tough guy. didn't have to act much for his part. loved girls and partying.
Tom Cruise...too much fun. very serious about his work. obviously still is. was alot of fun and always smiled. I spent alot of time with him and he was a true friend.
Emilio Estevez...wild man. just like Two Bit, Emilio was the prankster. he was as genuine as they come and was always nice and fun to be around. he was game for anything.
Francis Ford Copolla...THE MAN. always treated everyone with respect but demanded perfection. great cook. had and still has thoughts other directors could only dream of. just a total wealth of knowledge.
Susie Hinton...mother. she was all the guys mother. funny, witty, and very committed to her work. I believe she was the X factor in this films success. she lived it with us!!
Patrick Swayze, Darren Dalton, Leif Garrett, and Diane Lane were all very nice and professional. just didn't spend as much time with them.
The whole experience,of being in this movie, was the time of my life. I learned alot and had more fun than ever before. The "Guys" always thanked us for treating them as buddies and not as stars. However, I repeatedly kick myself for not getting more pics and autographs. How could i spend all that time with them and not have a chest full of the goods?? Francis and Susie made all us feel as if we were literally living in this time. I was extremely hard to go back to normal life on a daily basis. After filming was over, there was a huge void in my life for weeks. I was bored, and missed my buds. It is so surreal to have this back in my forethoughts. Living that life again. What a pleasure to have that opportunity.
I thank Susie and Francis for "Staying Gold" all these years. For keeping the life we lived in millions of hearts throughout the world. We all owe you for your fortitude.
I thank Jenn, Karen, and James for locating me and allowing me to share my story. and for keeping the world informed with the continued Outsiders story!
Stay Gold,
Gene Bledsoe
