turns out this post is all about stand by me

I have to keep reminding myself that I can compose offline in ecto. Oh, related to that: I really like ecto, and feel comfortable endorsing it and recommending it to anyone who is looking for a full-featured offline editor for their blog.

Anyway, I guess AMC ran Stand By Me on DVD TV last night. Apparently, I’m the only person in the world who didn’t know about this, because I got tons of e-mail about it, and it appears that a lot of people who’ve never read my blog before are dropping by today to see what it’s all about. That fills me with performance anxiety, and makes me wish I had one of those “my favorite posts” posts to point you to. Maybe my Best of 2006 entry (which was a cleverly disguised starting point for The Happiest Days of Our Lives ) or a story like Blue Light Special would give you an idea of what I typically blather on about on my particular section of the ‘tubes.

OH! You know what I just thought? It would be totally cool — well, cool for me, anyway — if some readers wanted to leave links to their favorite posts in the comments. That way, I could, you know, lazyweb my way to a “readers favorites” post at some point in the future.

AMC has some really terrific blogs now, including a Sci-Fi blog that John Scalzi’s contributing to. There’s a post in their Future Classics blog that Stand By Me fans will probably enjoy about how Stephen King’s childhood inspired Stand By Me.

I really wish I’d seen it, because I’m always interested to know if other people remember things the same way I did, and because it’s really fun to know what else was going on outside of my 12 year-old acting bubble.

I guess they said that I was “upset” that Gordie never got his baseball cap back from Ace, which isn’t entirely accurate. I remember asking Rob why Gordie didn’t make Ace give him back his Yankees cap at the end of the movie, since it seemed like the sort of thing that should happen if Gordie and his friends “won.” (This made perfect sense to me when I was 12.)

Rob said that Ace didn’t keep the cap, and threw it away as soon as he walked around the corner. It wasn’t about the cap, Rob told me, as much as it was about Ace being cruel.

I learned a lot about filmmaking and storytelling in that conversation with Rob, and I still feel its influence on my creative life.

AMC also said that Kiefer Sutherland was a bully to all of us in real life. I don’t remember it that way at all, though I know Corey and Jerry have both said that he was pretty tough on them — method acting, I guess. It was different for me; I was certainly intimidated by him, but I don’t recall him going out of his way to be cruel or anything when the cameras weren’t rolling. In fact, my two clearest memories of him are being afraid that he was going to accidentally burn River’s face with the cigarette near the beginning of the movie, and that he wanted me to point the gun straight at his face near the end of the movie, which made me nervous, even though it wasn’t loaded.

Okay, one more memory and then I really have to get back to work: In that final scene, when Gordie pulls the gun on Ace, my instinct was to yell at him, like I was trying to intimidate him (again, this made sense when I was 12.) Rob let me rehearse it that way, and then he very calmly pulled me aside and asked me to try it again, but to keep my voice quieter. “Let the gun do the talking,” he said. “It’s more powerful.”

I was 12, so I said that I thought I should do it my way. (Ah, the impertinence of youth, how glad I am to be rid of it.) Rob nodded patiently and said, “Okay, listen to this.” He took a few steps away, and pointed his finger at my face. “No, Ace, just you,” he said. Gravely, quietly, seriously.

Then, he pulled that finger back and held it up.

“Now,” he said, “listen to this.” He took a deep breath, pointed his finger at my face again, and screamed, “NO ACE JUST YOU!”

His voice echoed off the river, as he asked, “Which one is scarier? Which one is stronger?”

I laughed nervously. “It’s scarier when you yell at me, but it’s stronger to be quiet, which is guess is scarier if you’re Ace.” I said.

“So let’s try it that way,” he said, kindly.

People always give me credit for being great in that movie. The truth is, I don’t think I deserve as much credit for it as I’m frequently given. I think back on my limited experience and my silly ideas, and then I see what a magnificent performance Rob Reiner coaxed out of me. The difference is striking.

Stand By Me is a classic film because of Jane Jenkins and Janet Hirshenson, who cast it, Rob Reiner,who directed it, Andy Scheinman, who produced it, and Ray Gideon and Bruce Evans, who wrote it. I was really good at taking direction, so I’ll take a little credit for that, but all of us were standing on the shoulders of giants.

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108 thoughts on “turns out this post is all about stand by me”

  1. Hey, Wil, I actually had Stand By Me in my Netflix queue and got it last week. I enjoyed the film. I thought you and River played off of each other nicely.
    *chuckles* Leeches.

  2. I feel that you and I are somewhat kindred spirits, both being geeks in the theatrical arts. (Although you’ve certainly experienced several orders of magnitude more success than I.)
    As a director, I must say that there’s nothing more delightfully satisfying than giving a note to an actor and having them internalize it, come to a realization about their character, and take their performance to the next level. It’s a sign of a great actor when they can pull that off, and since you pulled off one of the most powerful moments in one of the most powerful films of my generation, I’d say that yeah, 12-year-old you was a pretty damned awesome actor.

  3. Wil,
    SBM is one of my top 3 movies ever. I watched it in the theaters when I was in Jr. High…and I rented it so much from the local VCR place that the guy bought an extra copy for “real” customers. [I rented it every single weekend]
    My friends and I (4 of us) would pass notes in class and sign them in code: Chris, Gordie, Vern, Teddy
    I watched it first for River…then loved you and followed you to TNG. Your blog was introduced to me by a fellow Geek and I haven’t looked back since.
    Favorite posts: anything step parent related. I was raised by my step dad in a fashion similar to you and your boys. My step mom is also amazing…and she is who I try to copy as a step parent to a 13 year old.

  4. I’m a little confused by AMC’s online schedule. Their Schedule page shows many airings of Stand By Me (tonight, for instance), but when you follow the schedule link from the Stand By Me DVD TV page, it shows just June 24 for an air date. Anyway, I think you have another chance of catching it.

  5. My favorite post is a sentimental favorite in more than one sense.
    It was the first WWdN entry I ever read. I found it by accident when I googled the name of a local Talking Heads cover band called Houses in Motion. (They kick all kinds of ass, btw. If you’re ever in Madison, Wisco be sure to check them out).
    The writing is classic Wil: Heartfelt, true and so real it almost hurts. Also? Totally sentimental. In my book, that’s a good thing.
    I was never much of a sci-fi fan, so I missed most of Wil’s TV career. But I was a HUGE fan of Four Seasons and Stand by Me. Turns out the person who was “Gordie” in my mind had grow’d up to be a writer. And a top notch one at that. Joy!
    Enough of my blather. Here’s the link to Wil’s Houses in Motion:
    It’s been almost a year since Aunt Val died…

  7. I thought it was funny that they threw in little bits of trivia during the movie. Were you really a faster runner than River? 🙂

  8. Even though I have seen Stand By Me hundreds of times, I’m sorry I didn’t know it was on this weekend too. I need to see about getting it on DVD, because my VHS is long past worn out.
    I came to your blog many years ago, when you wrote a post on Jonathan Brandis committing suicide.
    My favorite post? There are just too many to chose. Blue Light Special is one of my favorites, but I really like whenever you write about Star Trek, which is interesting because I am not a Trekkie by any stretch of the imagination.

  10. I have to agree with all the previous posters who mentioned these two things:
    1. Toy Soldiers. You really must tell us what that movie was like for you. As much as some people might not be aware, you did make other movies than Stand By Me (like I have to tell *you* that), and we want to hear about them.
    2. Stand By Me commentary. You’ve been saying for years now that you’d do a commentary for us. We’re still waiting… Fair enough, you do have deadlines and so on, but don’t forget about it forever, ok? (If, when you do this, you have trouble condensing your commentary to fit the action on the screen, just tell us to pause the DVD!)
    As for my favourite post, well I remember one where you and Anne were in the kitchen, and you were talking about the dog’s “just in case” face. Ok, I just spent about 20 minutes fruitlessly searching for a link. Here’s a different favourite post instead. http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2008/01/the-best-thing.html
    More recently, I love the post about giving Nolan a copy of Little Brother. Because of that post, I went and read Little Brother. OMG, how awesome is that book?! I have to say, Thank You for getting me to read such an absolutely brilliant (and scarily relevant) story.

  12. Let Go is one of my favorites.
    You aren’t the only one who didn’t know Stand By Me was on, now I’m bummed out I didn’t see it.
    I admire the fact that you attribute your stellar performance to the gentle coaxing of your peers, it shows a lot of insight and humbleness. I was a semi-fan from Stand By Me on, but to be completely honest, it was falling upon your journal that really made me a fan. Your writing is provocative, and emotional, and interesting, and funny, and a million other things, so from just another cog in the works, thank you for sharing of yourself. Seriously.

  13. A few of my favourite posts by Wil Wheaton:
    in which a book builds a bridge
    even more fun on twitter
    Introducing Lego Wesly Crusher
    a note to my dogs
    in which my brother wins a contest and i am proud of him
    the best thing, ever
    xkcd adresses the rock band haters
    that’s just how I roll
    the family that frags together…
    from dark skies to wet grass
    that’s why i said i relate
    an explosion of horrible, entropic freedom
    OK, I have to stop now, but there are many more “favourites” for me…

  15. “Just FYI, Stand By Me is now in the $5 bins in Wal-Marts.”
    Thanks RM, I just might go pick that up since I didn’t know about it being on TV either. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched that movie.
    Wil, I know you’ve done some reviews of some of the first season episodes of ST:TNG on TVSquad, and I was bored this past week and started watching my DVDs (starting with the first season), and last night I was watching the first season special features and it was cool seeing you talk about how much you looked up to the other cast members and wanted to impress them, and how you were worried you messed up your audition reading and wanted to go back and read again because you thought you can do better. (Wow, that was a long sentence) I love hearing your memories.

  16. Sunday night was actually the first time I saw Stand By Me. I liked watching it with the dvd commentary, it added more insight into the movie without overshadowing the movie the way most spoken commentaries do.

  17. Lol, I also saw it on TV! One of my roomies had it on and I walked by…Did a double-take and was like “what?!” [For I just found your blog a week ago – weird coincidence in my book…]. Thanks for sharing the memories!

  18. ot sucked into SBM instead of doing my bills. I forgot how much I loved this movie!! I’ve enjoyed my copy of Happiest Days, and many thanks again for your blog.
    Here are some favorite posts for your ‘lurkers’:
    Listening to 80s music in the car with the kids:
    http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2005/11/i_am_the_modren.html
    A hawesome weekend with the kids, and realizing they’re old enough to quote Python:
    http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2006/02/nolan_and_i_end.html
    Your eulogy to Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons:
    http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2008/03/across-the-sea/comments/page/2/
    I was a lot like you then: I also got a brand new D&D set for Xmas one year, and also went to parochial school. Played with the dice and read the manual, but didn’t do much else. HOwever, I didn’t find a kindred spirit to play with. Maybe things would have been a little different if I had…?

  20. Wil,
    Stand By Me stands out as the movie of my adolescence. I must have seen it over a hundred times.
    That being said, it was pure perfection. Recently, my eldest son asked me what my favorite movie–of all time–was. I told him that it was Stand By Me, and it is. I can’t wait to watch it with him.

  22. I remember sneaking in to see the movie with another 12-year-old friend of mine… she recently sent me one of those “sorry for all the shit I put you through when we were teenagers” emails because she’s shipping off to Iraq in August – and we’ve shared tears and memories via the Internet – I told her about how I always associated her with Chris and myself with Gordie. Stand By Me was an integral part of my formative years, and will always be one of my top five favorite movies. Your character helped me come out of my shell and stand up for myself.
    As far as my favorite blog posts – I’d have to say any of the at-home stories where you marvel at Ryan and Nolan, or where Anne rolls her eyes at your geekiness. The way you write them, I really feel like I’m sitting in the living room with you.
    Whether through your acting or your writing, you’ve been a part of my life for over twenty years – and “thank you” doesn’t begin to cover it.

  23. My very favourite post has to be Blue Light Special. I’m sure I’ve missed a bunch of equally great ones, though, because that was just about the time I started reading regularly.
    I only saw Stand By Me a few years ago (yes, I was deprived!) when a brand-new movie theater here in Eugene showed “local” movies as part of its grand opening. And I had the same thought about the hat, and I was at least twice 12 years old. 😉

  24. Stand By Me is one of those movies that I can always watch, and never seem to tire of. It helps that I worship at the altar of Stephen King, I’m sure. It is also due to such a “magical” coming together in this movie that I am entirely able to suspend my disbelief and just enter the movie.
    I’d read your blog before, pre-WWdN:IX, and am glad the movie reminded me to return and see what you’ve been up to.

  25. Now, too bad they couldn’t work in a nice geek moment in 24…Wil, you’re holding a gun on Jack Bauer at the discovery of a body and saying, “no Ace, just you.”

  26. Stand By Me was one of my fav all time movies as a kid. I recently had the chance to watch it with my boys, and they got it, just like I got it when I was thier age. Thats for your contribution in a classic movie Wil.

  27. I loved Stand By Me! It is one of my all time favorite movies and now my kids watch it and love it as well. My oldest son, who just turned 7, sat down and watched it with me on AMC this past weekend and commented that they edited out way too much and asked that we turn it off and put my DVD on instead. Btw, I found this and thought you might like it:
    cat
    more

  28. Thanks for the email reply, Wil – my wife jokingly suggested I email you about that blurb, but I thought there was a better than average chance you’d send a real response back, which was a little geek out moment for me, as I was both a Trek fan and a Wesley Crusher fan – you’re only 2 years older than me, so at that age, I really was inspired that someone my age could be on the freakin’ Enterprise at some point in the future…and it made my wife jealous – she threatened to whip out her autographed glossy of you from the Trek days as well.
    As far as favorite posts, I’ve always really enjoyed your poker stuff, even though I didn’t know much about it when you were writing a lot about it – but it was always immensely interesting and I hope to see more in the future!

  29. Hubby reads your blog and tweets regularly. I’m a lurker. But I have to admit that while watching SBM on AMC the other night, it felt like we were watching a friend on TV. We share the same sick sense of humor. Thanks for sharing!
    I also agree that you need to do a SBM commentary podcast!
    We’d love to see you in more movies or TV…

  30. Typepad tagged my comments yesterday. I’ll try again and keep it brief:
    “Houses in Motion”, “Let Go” and “Blue Light Special”.

  31. I never knew you had a blog and I honestly just found out through the AMC showing of Stand by Me too..I know..lame…sorry heheh
    I am sure you are getting multiple comments from people just like me but I just wanted to say how much I loved you in Stand by Me and look forward to checking out and looking around on your blog…from one geek to another, I love it!
    Thanks!
    Natalie

  32. Wil, didn’t know Stand By Me was on – I would have watched it! One of my all time favorite films. Makes me cry every time (but with many laughs along the way). You all were wonderful.
    My all-time favorite blog was before you went In Exile – “The Trade.” I hope I am not infringing on your copywright, but…I loved it so much I saved it to my computer. And I’m glad I did. I read it every once in a while for a laugh and a bit of nostalgia (and my love of all things Star Wars.)
    I also love your story from “Dancing Barefoot” about you and Anne walking in the rain. I believe that was a post too, before being published. (Again, probably on the old blog.)
    P.S. “The Trade” was posted on May 8th 2002. Can’t believe I’ve been reading your blog for 6 years! Keep up the great posts and stories.

  34. I watched Stand By Me on TV and that is the only way I knew that Wil had a blog. I was just commenting to my husband “wonder what ever happened to Wil Wheaton”,,and now I know. Looks like I have alot of reading ahead of me..LOL.

  35. what a great movie, i remember seeing it when i was 6 or 7. this was back when it 1st came out on vhs, i digress. anyway, being and only kid that was preety much on his own, seeing this movie, i realy connected to it and to the characters. all outcasts like myself. i think about it now and its weird that i felt that way then, does everyone that age think and feel so intensly? anyway, whenever i see this movie it always brings me back to that. one of my favorites. and i miss river, i wish he were around still, he could’ve gone so far no matter what he did, ya know.
    well, cheers to all! btw i also dug toy soldiers, that was a cool film.

  36. Because I want to be “totally cool” I’m leaving links to some of my favorite wwdn posts.
    First, nerd revenge, wherein Wil recounts the bet his friend and fellow ACME performer Annie lost, forcing her to create her own blog. Hilarious.
    and now for something completely different. Wil auditions for Numb3rs.
    when come back, bring p Happy p day to all.
    the butterfly tree For those of you who haven’t yet read Wil’s books, this is classic Wheaton.
    on writing… Wil goes back to school.

  41. My husband and I watched stand by me the other night – Always forget what a great movie it is and was. My younger brother of ten years loved that movie growing up and he was sick alot as a kid I remember watching it with him it brought back great memories-so sad to see river pheonix – I have never read a blog before it is good.

  43. OHMYGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! OHMYGA! OHMYGA! IT IS YOU!
    okay okay okay – so like I don’t know how these blogging things work (so if I’m like “waaaay behind” sorry but I totally JUST found out about this ohmyga)
    so okay, totally watching AMC and totally watching STAND BY ME and like I havn ever ever seeeeeeen it before but like I’m like okay, AMC has some pretty kickass movies and these boys are like uuuber hotties, I’ll like watch it, whatever, if it’s horrible I only wasted like 2 hours of my life!
    but ohmygaaaaaaa! first of all, LOVE LOVE LOVE this flick ohmyga!
    but okay – this is about “wil wheaton”!
    so the real reason I totally wanted to tinkle my panties is because the first time I saw your (his) character, I was like OMMMMG! I KNOW HIM! how do I know him??? I have no idea but like I dooo! so I’m like thinking thinking thinking and just can’t like brain won’t function – so like anyways later I’m like talking to my girlfriend and I’m like, ‘yeah you know that movie stand by me’ and she’s like ‘yeah wil wheaton, hellooooooo’ I’m like what??? and she’s all OMMMMMMG you totally have a picture of him at EMERALD CITY COMIC CON (my booth was RIGHT next to yours and you had like this UUUUUUUBER long line and the overflow of your line made itself over to the start of little superhero lane) and I totally was like taking 90920392039 pictures of you with my cameraphone and I’m like LOOOOK AT THIS KID, HE’S SOOOO EFFIN CUUUUTE! and ommmmg – you’re like huuuge star! ohmygaaaaaaa!!!! yaaaaay!
    okay, so like ummmmm, sooooooooo excited to find this little thing! I’ve been reading through like ALL the past posts and you’re like a writer writer writer! omg! like multi talented – ommmmg!
    so yay! I am a newly found wilwheaton-yte! yay!
    xoxo

  44. There’s an extension for Firefox called Firesomething that randomly generates names other than “Mozilla Firefox” in the Title Bar. I use science fiction precursors followed by strange animal names…so at any time, I might be running Klingon Turbohamster or something along those lines. It’s entirely customizable, so I might try typing in the different monster names, now that I have the linkage. Would make for a fun geeky project, anyhow.

  45. Oops…I posted my comment on the wrong entry. Sorry about that…one of those it’s late/I’m tired things.
    Um, I think my favorite entry, off the top of my head, is “Fireworks.”

  48. Hi Wil,
    I don’t know if you actually read these comments, but I watched Stand By Me the other night & signed up for your blog. I was a huge fan in the 80s and even went so far as to have a Wil Wheaton scrapbook! (For reference, I was 11.) What I have been dying to know after all these years is, The Farm/Curse? Why? And am I the only person in the world who owns a copy?
    Take care.

  49. @Saira Bee: I do, in fact, read every comment that’s left on my blog. I don’t always have time to participate in comment discussions, though.
    If you stick around, I think you’ll see that there’s a fantastic group of regular commenters who always have interesting things to say.
    I’ve written about The Curse elsewhere (I think it’s in the FAQ, even) but the short answer is: I wish you were the only person in the world to own that pile of garbage, because it’s the movie that effectively ended my film career.
    Think about it: after Stand By Me, River did Mosquito Coast, ad I did The Curse. Who went on to have the respectable film career?
    I was only 13 when that whole thing happened. I relied upon other people, who should have known better, to help me make good career choices. Unfortunately, all of those people just saw a chance to make some quick money off of me being in the film, without considering the real consequences of following up a classic, critically acclaimed film like Stand By Me with a pile of shit horror movie like The Curse.
    I don’t have a lot of regrets in my life, but that film is certainly one of them.

  50. I didn’t get to see Stand by Me until junior year of high school in 1990. Oddly enough it was shown in religion class at my Catholic high school. This movie had such an impact on me as I was the geek of my peer group. It also turned me into a Wil fan. Rob Reiner may have coaxed that performance out of you, Wil, but it was you delivering the lines ultimately and for 12 you were damn good at it, as were all of you.

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