BILL ALLEN: SAG Actor, BMX Interview about RAD Movie

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INTERVIEW with BILL ALLEN, aka CRU JONES
(excerpt from http://www.bmxtreme.com)

BMXtreme's Grant Hansen recently had the pleasure of chatting with Bill Allen, the actor who played Cru Jones in the cult classic "Rad." As a "Rad" fanatical, Grant was stoked to speak to the man behind the legend, and we hope that you all enjoy this interview. These days Bill works mostly behind the camera as a writer/producer and collaborates on a bunch of projects with his good friend Lou Diamond Phillips. If you're over 18 and don't mind feeling a bit uncomfortable, check out whowantstobeahollywoodmoviestar.com to see one of Bill's latest endeavors.

GRANT: Hey Bill, how's it going? I'm not sure if you can hear it, but I've got the Rad soundtrack playing in the background.

BILL: That's very frightening, Grant.

GRANT: (laughter) That wasn't easy to get you know.

BILL: I believe it. Where did you get it?

GRANT: I bought it off of my web site actually (Classified section). Someone gained the rights to produce CDs of it and I got it for $20.

BILL: All right!

GRANT: So, anyway, how did you land the role of Cru Jones?

BILL: I actually landed that because of an episode of Hillstreet Blues I did. Hal Needham, the director of the film, had seen that when he was ready to cast Rad, actually that day, so he called me in. It was a pretty short audition process. So I guess he saw something he liked on TV.

GRANT: Pretty cool. What was your acting experience before Rad, other than Hillstreet Blues?

BILL: Rad was the third movie I did. The first movie I did was in Kentucky in 1982 about horse racing. That was when I was still living in Texas, and through that movie in Kentucky I wound up getting my Screen Actors Guild (SAG) card, and an agent out in L.A. So, with the money I made from the film and my suitcases, I went out to L.A. So Rad was about the third movie I did, and maybe the fifth or sixth acting job altogether.

GRANT: Was it your first title role?

BILL: Um, the movie I did in Kentucky, I played a jockey in that.

GRANT: That's a different type of riding.

BILL: Yeah, I seem to get stuck with a lot of athletic roles.

GRANT: What was the name of that movie?

BILL: "And They're Off!" It was George Clooney's first movie.

GRANT: Did you have any knowledge of BMX before Rad?

BILL: Uh, not really. I was familiar with the sport, but I wasn't an avid fan or anything. But after working in Canada with all those talented riders I really gained an appreciation for it.

GRANT: How was it working with Talia Shire, the wife of Rocky?

BILL: She was great. Adrienne, yeah! She actually produced the movie with her husband, Jack Schwarzman. She was my boss. I only realized afterwards that Francis Ford Coppola was related to her, otherwise I probably would have been nicer to her.

GRANT: (Laughter)

BILL: And of course Jason Schwarzman was on the set at the time when he was only 10 years old. And he went on to do the movie Rushmore.

GRANT: How old were you when you filmed Rad?

BILL: I was 25 I think.

GRANT: So is Laurie Loughlin a good kisser?

BILL: I had to remove her tongue from my throat a couple of times (laughter). She's great. Very professional. It's hard not to get a crush on someone like that when you're working with her.

GRANT: So ass sliding couldn't have been that bad.

BILL: Yeah, when you go ass sliding you want to make it with a girl like that.

GRANT: I heard that water was absolutely freezing up in Canada.

BILL: Yeah, we had wet suits on underneath, but it didn't really help me because it gets wet. It was so frigid … Canada in the fall, it was frighteningly cold. So cold that parts of a man disappear.

GRANT: Not the right time to put the moves on a woman then! Here's the hard-hitting question. I think Luke (Cru's best friend in Rad) was the unsung hero of the movie.

BILL: I agree.

GRANT: If you'll notice, he was ahead of Cru in the first qualifier before he was taken out.

BILL: That's true.

GRANT: And he doesn't get any recognition.

BILL: True, he kind of got robbed, didn't he? He was actually a local, a Canadian. He was an Olympic cross-country skier.

GRANT: I did not know that.

BILL: So there's some trivia for you.

GRANT: Did you expect that Rad was going to be a cult classic, so to speak?

BILL: You know, I really did. With the caliber of the production team and what was going on there … there really weren't any other movies like it. We expected it to be huge with the kids, and in fact, it did. It was in the top ten video rentals for two years after it's release. And I still get recognized from it. People say, "You remind me of somebody. Didn't you steal my lunch money once?" "I know you! I know you!" They're usually BMX fans who have seen the movie. I've had people recognize me at really odd places and odd times.

GRANT: So how do you feel about your current status as a cult hero? Kind of what Captain Kirk is to Star Trek, what Luke Skywalker is to Star Wars.

BILL: Exactly! It's that unstoppable force like the Brady Bunch … it just won't go away. A lot of time has passed since the filming of that movie, and it's one of those movies that a lot of people saw a lot of times. There's a group of kids who have watched Star Wars 250 times and then there's another group of kids who have watched Rad 250 times.

GRANT: That's probably more than you've sat down to watch it.

BILL: Oh yeah. By a long shot. It's been awhile, but I'm proud of it. It was a good effort, I think. And I got some pretty spectacular stunt riding out of it.

GRANT: Is there any significance to the number 33? Or was that just a random number picked for Cru?

BILL: I'm guessing it was just a random number. The director may have been into numerology, I don't know. There was no hidden meaning but if you want to make up something then I'm all for that.

GRANT: Did you have to do anything to prepare for the role? Like ride a bike for X amount of hours…

BILL: Well, when I do something like that I try to be as proficient at it as I can. Fortunately I did know how to ride a bike. I wasn't an expert by any means, but I had a few weeks before shooting started, and I slept on that bike basically. I wouldn't say I got to be an expert at any tricks, but I was able to get across that I have sat on a bike before.

GRANT: What was the deal with Katie? Cru didn't seem to have his sights set too high with her.

BILL: Oh man! You know, it was one of those local things. He probably knew her all his life…

GRANT: Did Cru keep his promise and take his SATs? And if so, what did he get?

BILL: You know what? He did keep with his promise and scored something like a 1200-1300. He was way up there.

GRANT: There you go. If you had your choice, would it be Foxy or Tiger?

BILL: Wow … I gotta go with Tiger.

GRANT: Just for the outfits alone.

BILL: Yes, quite spectacular costume design.

GRANT: What was the toughest part of working on the film?

BILL: Um … I tried doing as much as the tricks I could, so I guess that was my toughest job. Most of the audience was going to be bike riders themselves so I had to come across like I knew what I was doing. That was my biggest job. The rest was pretty straight-forward acting stuff.

GRANT: It's pretty tough for people like me who ride consistently and still don't look like they know what they're doing!

BILL: It's an actor's trick: get proficient with it and look like you know what you're doing.

GRANT: What was your career like after the movie? What kinds of projects have you worked on?

BILL: I've done two or three features since there. I've collaborated with a good friend of mine, Lou Diamond Phillips. He's an old friend of mine from Texas and I've been in a couple of movies with him. Sioux City, Dangerous Touch … and we also formed a rock band …

GRANT: Get out of here!

BILL: …and toured all over the US and Canada for a couple of years. "The Pipe Fitters."

GRANT: One of my favorite movies with him (Lou Diamond Phillips) was "The Big Hit" with Mark Wahlberg.

BILL: Yeah, he's great. We've been able to collaborate on a bunch of things together. I've done several stage projects out here, I went to Mexico for a few years and did some television shows out there, "Lazarus Man," I don't know if you're familiar with that. "Wishbone," I co-starred with a dog, so that was exciting. In the 90s I started doing some television production. I produced a comedy show for cable. People like Eddie Van Halen and Lou Diamond Phillips were involved in it. I'm writing and producing another comedy video right now. I'm trying to get more behind the camera actually.

GRANT: Do you enjoy that more than acting?

BILL: I enjoy all of it. But with writing and producing you're more hands-on with the piece and involved for a longer period of time. It's a little more fulfilling because it originates with your own ideas and you're on the project a whole lot longer.

GRANT: What are your future plans? Where do you see yourself a few years from now?

BILL: Connecting with all my great BMX fans out there who are wondering what happened to me. Doing more acting and keep doing what I'm doing. More producing. I got married last year. That's been great. Fatherhood down the line, maybe.

GRANT: Rumor has it that you're thinking of doing something again in the BMX world.

BILL: Actually, yes. Strangely enough, there's been two conversations lately about doing a sequel, and another friend of mine is producing a documentary on BMX. He wants to use me and he's going to interview me for that. Yeah, so I'm re-emerging.

GRANT: How about going to races and promoting yourself in that way?

BILL: Yeah, I would love to do that. It's been a long time since I've been to any races and just hanging out with the guys. That whole world is very fascinating to me.

GRANT: One of our biggest pastimes at the bigger national events is to see who can stump who with Rad trivia.

BILL: Are you serious?

GRANT: Yes, I'm serious. It's fun, you know? It's a lot of hard questions.

BILL: Next time you'll just have to call me and verify something.

GRANT: I actually have some questions for you to test your wit.

BILL: Uh, oookay.

GRANT: I'll start easy for you, because some I'm not sure if you'll know or not.

BILL: Do I get any lifelines?

GRANT: No, but I'll give you some hints. What were the Reynolds Twins first names?

BILL: Oh! In real life or in the movie?

GRANT: In the movie.

BILL: Uh… ugh! I'll have my secretary get back to you on that one.

GRANT: They both began with "R". Blah and blah …

BILL: Ricky … uh …

GRANT: Rod and Rex.

BILL: Rod and Rex. Right. So much for starting off easy.

GRANT: What town was Helltrack in?

BILL: The track was in Oregon. Wow. Was it in Oregon? I think. The state was never mentioned.

GRANT: Cochran.

BILL: Cochran, yes! Holy cow …

GRANT: What was Cru's little sister's name?

BILL: Wesley?

GRANT: There you go!!! How about Luke's girlfriend's name?

BILL: Luke's girlfriend's name … dude … Do you know this? Even if you didn't watch it recently?

GRANT: Yes, it's only mentioned once or twice in the movie. Becky.

BILL: Becky …

GRANT: How about Cru's overweight co-worker?

BILL: Uh … he's got a name?

GRANT: Yes, you called him one name but he had to correct you because you were making for of him.

BILL: Right, like Bart or …

GRANT: You should have watched it. "Bob, not Blob."

BILL: I need to have my mother send my up a copy because I don't have one.

GRANT: OK, I'll just read you some so you know how we stump each other at the races, and prove what little lives we actually have.

GRANT: What was the federation that organized Helltrack? The American Bicyclists Federation.

GRANT: OK, Duke Best. What bike company does he work for?

BILL: Oh my God!!! It's not a real company, right?

GRANT: No, it is! It is.

BILL: Mongoose.

GRANT: There you go!! Here's a hard one. What was Cochran High School's mascot? Like, why would you know this? But at the dance, there's a painting of a Cobra on the wall, so obviously, the Cochran Cobras. We have to come up with questions like this to stump each other.

BILL: I guess so.

GRANT: What were your first lines in the movie.

BILL: "Hey dudes let's walk this sucker."

GRANT: YES!!!!!!!!!! Oh my God, no one gets that!

BILL: See, I pay attention when I have to talk.

GRANT: Do you know the last line of the movie and who said it?

BILL: Oh my God … um … is it Wesley?

GRANT: Yeah …

BILL: I can't remember what she said.

GRANT: "Now that we're official, you think we have room for one more on the Rad team?" "Yeah, what a team!"

BILL: That's right. Very clever.

GRANT: Alright, this is the last one I'll make you suffer through. What was Cru's first name?

BILL: His real first name? Uh, not Cru obviously.

GRANT: It's only said once in the movie. When his mom wouldn't let him qualify for Helltrack, and he brings up his dad. Mom goes, "Don't pull that stuff with me, Christopher."

BILL: Oh!

GRANT: Well, if you plan on showing up at the track …

BILL: I better be up on it.

GRANT: You better watch the movie a couple hundred times. Because this is all you're going to get.

BILL: "You don't even know your real name dude!"

GRANT: (laugher) But it reminds me of the Saturday Night Live skit with William Shatner …

BILL: "Get a life!"

GRANT: Yes! At the Star Trek convention. Why would you know this stuff, you know? You did your job and it was a great thing …

BILL: Then people go off with it. I know some good psychological help on the east coast if you need to de-tox from Rad a bit.

GRANT: It's something to do in between races. I've got this one friend (Adam Cardin) … he's sick. He knows every lyric to every song … and pretty much every line. He'll ask you to say a line and he'll say the line that follows it. So, were you able to keep anything from the set? Like shirts, uniforms, etc?

BILL: Yeah, I got wardrobe stuff, a lot of publicity stuff, but they never did give me a bike.

GRANT: What about the custom hockey helmet?

BILL: I didn't keep that. Some of the wardrobe stuff was dead-center 80s.

GRANT: Not the best era for fashion. The best pants you had were when you were bicycle boogying … they were gray with like a white pleat down the sides. I'd love to find a pair of those.

BILL: Oh man you'd be so happening. For some reason, I didn't ask for any of my wardrobe from it.

GRANT: One last thing … anything you'd like to say to all those who have been following the movie?

BILL: Wear your helmets! I got bashed around a lot in that movie. I mashed my skull pretty hard in one take. It's not about looking pretty, it's about winning races.

GRANT: Well, thanks so much man. It's been great talking to you!

BILL: Thank you!