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| Corey Feldman CREDIT: CoreyFeldman.net |
Well, the biggest problem you know is those that achieve success earlier rather than later is the time to cope. First and foremost, you need to know who you are because at the end of the day, I am not my career. My career is its own entity. That is my work and what I do for a living but that is not who I am as a human being. That is a key factor here. My life is my life and my career is my career, two very separate entities. If you meet Corey Feldman the person, I'm your average guy. I take my kid to school and do his homework with him. I do all the 9 to 5 day-to-day stuff that everybody else does. BUT when it comes to the entertainer, you've got the rock star and the celebrity and all that. I know how to put that image out there and be that guy when I need to be that guy but I also know how to file that away and be Average Joe Dad and Fella Next Door. You need to have the ability to do both, but that's something I had to learn. In 35 years I had a lot of experience with how to get the chemistry right.
I think we are having a breakthrough. This is cathartic.
Yeah, sometimes people get sudden success and they forget who they are. Suddenly they are so consumed by the attention, the great review and adoration that people throw at them, that it takes a turn for the worst. Inevitably it always will. I can tell you that if you are around for 35 years you can't be on top the whole time. And if anybody's career is a testament to that, it's mine because I certainly have hit the lowest of lows and the highest of highs. Well maybe not the HIGHEST of highs, I'm still working on that.
Still consistently working though, always a recognizable face... That's longevity.
Thanks, I appreciate that. The nice thing is that it honestly seems that for the first time in my life and my career, people are actually stopping to acknowledge that and appreciate that for what it is because you have to realize I went through many years where people tried to sweep me under the carpet. They wanted me to be one of those faces that got chewed up and spit out after I finished my childhood years. Then I had to transform and reinvent myself to be a teen star. Then once you've branded yourself with the teen star burden, people don't want to take you seriously as an adult actor. So reinvention once again. Middle age is coming up, so I'll have to do it again. It's a process and I think you have to have a lot of balls to be able to stand up to it all. Lots of people pointing fingers in your face, talking trash, and saying very awful nasty things about you and you have to able to take it all in stride and keep moving forward with a positive energy, not giving up and look to what's coming next. This is what I try to do. It's not always easy and I have my share of doubts, but if it wasn't for the fans I wouldn't still be doing it because at the end of the day. the number one driving force for me has been that the fans have never waned. So many times you see people with careers where they keep making movies but the ticket sales or DVD sales drop and suddenly those fans are gone.
For whatever reason I really feel I've had the love and support of the fans no matter what. They have been there for me regardless during times when the studios and the industry turned their backs and people weren't interested in hearing my name. They would come down the street and want pictures or autographs or I'd walk into a building and they would cheer. Things like that keep me motivated to keep making more for them instead of listening to the naysayers who try to basically drown my hopes.
This is like a deep philosophical moment. I was going to say something like, "Don't let the haters get you down," but it really sounds insignificant now. Oh well. Can I ask you some fun Culture Brats questions now?
Sure.
Debbie Gibson or Tiffany?
That's a rough one because I know them both.
Have I put you in an awkward situation here?
[laughing] Yeah, how about if I say they are both lovely young ladies and I wish BOTH of them much happiness and success?
I just lost any chance of accolades from Mike Wallace but I won't push it any further. Next one: Thriller or Purple Rain?
Ah well, Thriller, of course.
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| The Goonies CREDIT: Wikipedia |
Wait, I have to go back to that Thriller question for one second because you probably won't get this answer from anybody else. There was a very odd parallel in that dynamic for me because when I first became friends with Michael Jackson, which was on the set of The Goonies, for those of you who remember, here is a little pop culture reference for the day. During Goonies, I was wearing a Purple Rain t-shirt so you could imagine the uncomfortable feeling of having Michael Jackson come to personally visit me on the set and I'm wearing this Purple Rain shirt every time he shows up. A little uncomfortable but I did of course apologize, telling him it really wasn't my choice. It was all wardrobe's fault.
It's always wardrobe's fault. Also, craft services.
Yeah every time you come and see me, I'm wearing the face of your nemesis on my shirt.
Wait, nemesis? That would have been some street brawl.
Actually they were friendly with each other when they did speak, but Michael actually used to tell me a very funny story about how Prince was enamored with his sister LaToya.
*gasp*
He used to actually show up at the gate at the Hayvenhurst house when they were all teenagers and try and ask her out on dates. They were actually friends and they all had their incredible success in the '80s.
I'm stunned. I feel like that is the best '80s nugget of information I've ever been given by an interviewee. Well, thank you for taking the time to speak with us Corey. Congratulations on the release of The Lost Boys: The Thirst and Truth Movement and hopefully we will hear again from you soon.
Thank you, and again hope to see all the fans out there at the end of October. We really want to encourage people to come out and spend the evening with us.
