THEY LIVE…Lives On!
Special thanks to Terror from Beyond the Daves’ own Urban legends….Ron & Angela Urban for sharing these fun facts revealed at the recent THEY LIVE panel at Days of the Dead in Chicago! The films stars, Roddy Piper and Keith David, enjoyed seeing each other again and share their insights regarding the 1988 John Carpenter film…
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*Roddy commented that THEY LIVE is actually more relevant in today’s world than it was during its original release. Subliminal messages of obedience, consumption, along with the shrinking of the Middle Class are all themes even more prevalent in this era.
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*The role played by Keith David was specifically written for him.
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*Roddy stated that he carried a lot of the intensity he’d used in wrestling into his acting in this movie.
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*In preparation for the film, Roddy took acting classes but after finding them unhelpful, was tutored by Keith David instead.
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*Keith David stated that he does not ever argue with his directors but rather takes a more subtle approach. He refers to this skill as being “quietly convincing.” He did not elaborate whether he was able to manipulate Carpenter.
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*After Roddy filmed THEY LIVE, the storyline for “No Holds Barred” Pay Per View was written to fire Piper from the WWE…it remains a cause of friction to this day.
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*John Carpenter worked hard at maintaining realism during the course of filming THEY LIVE. The empty church featured in the film was an actual abandoned church and many of the homeless people seen were, in fact, homeless. As a result of the loose casting, added security was necessary.
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*When asked about wrestlers dabbling in acting, Piper noted that some roles were specifically tailored for wrestlers but that he’d like to see them offered roles that move past the obvious stereotypes.
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*Roddy stated that some wrestlers take the extra step to be their wrestling characters 24 hours day (e.g. Hulk Hogan, Rick Flair) which means they are basically not acting when they appear on film rather just doing what they do normally
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…Ouch!
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Dave Fuentes/David Albaugh Edit.
Reporting: Ron and Angela Urban
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Such a great movie! It’s so true that it is very relevant to today’s society.
December 5, 2012 at 10:46 am