Parents Emotional Abuse Fueled Wil Wheaton’s STAND BY ME Performance
Josh Millican
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Stand By Me, directed by Ron Reiner and based on the short story “The Body” by Stephen King is turning 35-years-old this summer. Though not strictly a horror movie, it’s nonetheless loved by genre fans for its unflinching portrayal of the horrors of adolescence.
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Another aspect of Stand By Me that makes it such a classic is the spirit of comradery created by the film’s then-young actors: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Jerry O’Connell, and Corey Feldman. But it wasn’t all fun and games behind the scenes.
In a recent interview with Yahoo, Wheaton reveals that he was suffering from parental emotional abuse at the time of filming Stand By Me. What’s more, he channeled his frustrations into the role of Gordie Lachance.
Wheaton, who is now estranged from his parents, tells Yahoo:
“I didn’t want to be an actor when I was a kid. My parents forced me to do it, my mother made me do it. My mother coached me to go into her agency and tell the children’s agent, ‘I want to do what mommy does.’ And through a combination of an incredible emotional abuse from my father and a lot of manipulation, using me, from my mother, it really put me in that place.”
It’s important to not that Yahoo was unable to reach Wheaton’s parents (mother Debra, an actress, and father Richard, a medical specialist) for comment.
Also Read: STAND BY ME Returns to Theaters for Its 35th Anniversary
“[It] put me in exactly the right place to play Gordie,” Wheaton continued. “Because Gordie’s experience very much reflected my experience. We’re both invisible in our homes. We both have a brother who is the golden child. We’re both the scapegoat in the family. So when I watch Stand by Me now, I cannot ignore the unbelievable sadness in my eyes. And I cannot ignore the reality that it was that sadness, that isolation that I think gave me what Gordie needed to come to life and I think Rob Reiner saw that.”
If it’s been a while, or if you’ve yet to experience the intensity of Stand By Me, check out the trailer and synopsis below.
Synopsis:
After learning that a stranger has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four Oregon boys decide to go see the body. On the way, Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton), Vern Tessio (Jerry O’Connell), Chris Chambers (River Phoenix) and Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman) encounter a mean junk man and a marsh full of leeches, as they also learn more about one another and their very different home lives. Just a lark at first, the boys’ adventure evolves into a defining event in their lives.
Are you a fan of Stand By Me? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! You can also carry on the convo with me personally on Twitter @josh_millican.
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