Highlights
- Alex Winter found filming The Lost Boys to be a chaotic and confusing experience.
- Winter was unsure of director Joel Schumacher’s vision for the film.
- Despite any initial reservations, Winter has come to appreciate and be amazed by the finished product of The Lost Boys.
From the outside looking in, it often seems like stars are fortunate enough that they shouldn’t have any regrets. As a result, it can be surprising to learn Hugh Grant regrets how he passed Two and a Half Men or that Jennifer Grey wishes her relationship with Patrick Swayze was different.
Even with that in mind, it still seems like everyone involved with The Lost Boys would be overjoyed to go down in history. After all, stars like Corey Haim who passed away after suffering from health issues will always be remembered for The Lost Boys. Amazingly enough, however, there is reason to think that Alex Winter may have once regretted his role starring in The Lost Boys.
Why Filming The Lost Boys Freaked Alex Winter Out
Before Alex Winter was hired to star in The Lost Boys, he had very limited experience acting on camera. In fact, Winter’s biggest screen achievement before that was portraying an easy-to-forget supporting character in Death Wish 3.
To go from only being a background character to having a starring role would be a major transition for any actor. In Winter’s case, however, that transition was made a lot bumpier because his big break came from starring in The Lost Boys.
In 2021, Winter spoke to CinemaBlend about the experience of starring in The Lost Boys. As Winter explained, starring in The Lost Boys was a lot of fun. However, the actor told the publication that filming The Lost Boys was so chaotic that it freaked Winter out.
“I wish I had a camera while we were shooting Lost Boys, because that entire shoot was absolutely insane, and wild, and fun, and very specific to its era. … My first day on set, I got to Santa Cruz the day they were shooting the beach party scene.”
Winter continued, “There’s Tim Cappello, the sax guy, all oiled up, right? Bonfires, and all of this insanity, and I was like ‘What the hell is this movie I just signed onto? What is this thing?’”
During that same interview, Winter elaborated on what made filming The Lost Boys a confusing experience. According to Winter, it was very difficult to see director Joel Schumacher’s vision for the film based on the script alone.
“We really didn’t know what Joel had in mind, it was really hard to tell from the script. It seemed cool, he was really smart, and he was inspiring. You put your trust in him, and you felt he had a control of the vision. But even making the film, none of us exactly knew what the tone was, because there was so much to the film, and it could really have gone in any direction.”
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The Lost Boys |
1987 |
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Production Budget:$8,500,000 |
Worldwide Box Office: $32,394,143 |
Given Winter’s inexperience at that time, it is easy to understand how filming The Lost Boys could have been confusing and scary. While Winter has made it clear that he was unsure of the experience at times, there is no indication he ever regretted starring in the movie.
What Did Alex Winter Think About The Lost Boys?
As of the time of this writing, it has been more than 35 years since The Lost Boys was released. Even after all this time, the film has a slew of devoted fans, many of whom consider it to be the best vampire film ever made.
Even though fans have completely embraced The Lost Boys, that doesn’t inherently mean that Alex Winter loves the movie. Fortunately enough, however, Winter explained to CinemaBlend that his experience filming The Lost Boys makes him even more amazed by the film than fans.
“I remember seeing the film finally done, when we all went to the cast and crew [screening,] I think it was at Warner Bros. And we were like, we were all blown away, because [Joel] just managed to synthesize all of these different ideas and genres and themes and tones into this thing that just worked.”
Winter continued, “The movie is what it is, I’m not trying to elevate it too much, but it’s just semi-miraculous that he pulled it off, I think.”
In 2022, Winter was interviewed by Entertainment Weekly for a profile looking back at The Lost Boys’ legacy. During that conversation, Winter reflected on The Lost Boys’ homoerotic undercurrent.
“I do think that, for sure, our characters had that kind of undercurrent. I don’t think it required, you know, sitting around a table read discussing it. I had spent my previous five years doing two long-running Broadway shows back to back — during the beginning of the AIDS crisis and at the height of the disco era. I started going to discos at, like, 13, 14, years old.”
Winter continued, “I’ve been around the nightlife in New York a really long time. I came from a family of modern dancers, so I’ve been around trans and gender-fluid and gay people my whole life and it was really freaking obvious what he was up to and, and I thought it was great…that was what I took for Marko, I sort of pulled from these kids that I knew from Times Square, all of whom were totally gender-fluid.”
What Happened To Alex Winter?
After starring in The Lost Boys put Alex Winter on the map to a certain degree, he went on to land the role of a lifetime. In 1989, Winter portrayed the character he is still best known for today for the first time.
To date, Winter has portrayed Bill S. Preston, Esq. in three films that all were well received. Winter portrayed the popular character in 1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, 1991’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, and 2020’s Bill & Ted Face the Music.
On top of the Bill & Ted’s movies and The Lost Boys, Winter landed roles in a handful of other films. Since 2012, Winter has mainly been working as a documentary filmmaker whose work has tackled subjects like Napster, child actors, YouTube, and more.
According to TV Guide, Winter currently is married to Ramsey Ann Naito and his ex-wife is named Sonya Dawson. Winter also reportedly is a father of three including the son he has from his first. marriage and the kids he and his current wife share.
Source: NewsFinale
