Not many
people go from academic
excellence with an interest in
brain surgery to appearing in
films where the cast members'
brains have a strong possibility
of getting fried, but Derek
Rydall has never taken the
expected path. In fact, just as
his film career was taking off in
the early 90's, Rydall, the star
of such latter 20th century
horror opuses as 'Phantom
of the Mall: Eric's Revenge'
and 'Popcorn',
left it all behind to find
success as an author,
screenwriter and motivational
speaker.
Rydall gained early
exposure to the film world via
his uncle, celebrated director
Don Siegel, whose films include
the original 'Invasion of
the Body Snatchers' and 'Dirty
Harry'. Rydall lovingly
recalls spending time with the
supportive Siegel. He soaked up
Siegel's varied stories of the
industry and learned fight
choreography from the action
master (including how to pull a
punch). Siegel even gave Rydall a
head start in films by casting
him as (respected character
actress) Sheree North's son in
the spy film 'Telefon' starring Charles Bronson and Lee
Remick. Rydall recalls that North
was "awesome" and
"very sweet", but his
mother and father had no desire
to be "stage parents".
So, Rydall returned to school,
experiencing great academic
success, with an early graduation
and scholarships in the offing.
Instead of
the medical life, though, Rydall
decided it was the time to pursue
an acting career full out. Siegel
had always encouraged Rydall to
"use my name" and, in a
circle-of-life way, one of
Rydall's very first roles upon
re-entering the field was that of
a long haired youth in the
Bronson starring 'Death Wish 4'.
Rydall admits that Bronson was
"hard to read", but he
approached him on set and
mentioned his uncle. Bronson,
nodded, smiled and then simply
and succinctly uttered,
"Yeah, Don was great."
With that, Rydall's private
audience with the motion picture
star was complete.
Rydall
soon found himself securing the
lead role in the devilishly
tainted, 'Rear Window'
influenced horror-thriller 'Night
Visitor'. Though Rydall
was testing against several well
known younger actors, he believes
that the realism he invoked in
one of his audition scenes
ultimately won him the role. (In
the scene, which is one of the
subsequent movie's most intense,
Rydall's character is threatened
by a murderous high school
teacher.) Said teacher was played
by the brilliant Allan Garfield
who gives a sweat stained, over
the top performance in the film.
Rydall recalls Garfield spent
much of his time on set with his
dog, but his fondest memories are
perhaps reserved for Elliot Gould
who willingly collaborated with
the young actor. "He was
cordial, always rehearsing scenes
and running lines," Rydall
remembers. Rydall was also
introduced to Buddhism, on set,
by Brooke Bundy. Bundy, best
known as Kristen's uncaring
mother in the 'Nightmare
on Elm Street' films
played Rydall's overtaxed mother
here, also. Rydall found Bundy to
be incredibly "cool",
though, and very unlike the
monstrous characters she so
frequently portrayed. The naive
Rydell, also, found himself more
than face to face with another
co-star, the buxom Shannon Tweed.
To help get his character's
necessary embarrassed reaction in
one scene, the off camera Tweed
flashed Rydall, getting the
maximum amount of reddened
flustering for every
understandably jealous
adolescent's dollar.
The
physicality required of Rydall in
'Night Visitor' (including a rambunctious fight
scene with Garfield and eccentric
actor Michael Pollard in their
characters\rquote satanic lair)
put him in good steed for his
next project. As Eric in 'Phantom
of the Mall: Eric's Revenge',
Rydall found himself skulking
around the Sherman Oaks Galleria
at all hours. Originally signed
to a 4 movie deal as the badly
burned, vengeful teen, Rydall
often spent up to 3 hours in
make-up being transformed into
this junior Lon Chaney replica.
In prepping for the role, Rydall
found the civilians in the mall
reacted to him as if he were a
real burn victim. That fact
coupled with his 18 hour days in
costume allowed "Eric's
psychology to seep into me."
All was
not emotional hardship on set,
though. In fact, the joy one
experiences upon watching this
often silly, go-for-broke minor
horror epic (which features
performances from perpetual
villainess Morgan Fairchild,
genre legend Ken Foree, comedian
Pauly Shore and even an
un-credited, extended cameo from
legendary scream queen Brinke
Stevens) also found its way
behind the scenes. Rydall's
fondest memories including
hanging out at the mall with his
young cast mates and he even
managed to strike up "a
really good friendship" with
co-star Tom Fridley (whose other
genre credits include
'Summer Camp Nightmare'
and 'Friday the 13th Pt.
6') whom he describes as
a "crazy guy". Sillier
still, Rydall was required to
film an "Eric dance
montage" where his masked
bad guy "Jennifer
Beal-ed" through his lair
and out into the mall. "I
was practically pole dancing
through the mall," he
recalls. Fortunately (or
unfortunately depending on your
sense of humor), this sequence
was excised from the final film.
"It was ridiculous!"
While
Rydall's career was on fire
(although not as Eric - a
stuntman handled those dangerous
fire-walking duties along with
the responsibility of tossing
Fairchild's nefarious Mayor to
her death), his next film, the
well loved 'Popcorn',
was his final film to date. While
on set for almost three months in
Jamaica, Rydall began a spiritual
awakening that, at first, had him
considering life in a monastery,
and eventually led him to a more
proactively reflective life as a
screenwriter and motivational
speaker.
While on
location, though, Rydall
definitely made of the most of
his final shoot. He, once again,
bonded with his fellow cast mates
(in fact, the on the set
camaraderie is what Rydall misses
the most about filmmaking) and
spent much time in Ocho Rios and
Montego Bay eating fresh seafood
and getting to know the locals.
Rydall
also recalls that violence (of a
sort) was not contained to the
confines of the film. "I was
caught in an intense lightening
storm that sounded like cases of
dynamite going off. It was the
first time I was ever afraid of
the weather."
Rydall
plays the film's typical hero,
Mark, but with a certain twist.
Mark can not accomplish any deed
within the film without some kind
of physical harm being reaped
upon him. Rydall's portrayal is
exasperatingly good natured and
is no doubt influenced by
original director, Alan Ormsby
and by the legendary Bob Clark,
who was forced by the producers
to take over the project midway
through. (Rydall has especially
fond memories of interacting with
the deceased Clark. Incidentally,
Clark, in a final interview,
stated that he thought Ormsby did
an exceptional job and regretted
being forced to take over. In the
piece, which ran in Fangoria's
August 2007 issue, Clark, also
made sure Ormsby was credited
with creating all of the movies
within the movie that give 'Popcorn'
its notable flair.)
More than
being influenced by his final
film's uniqueness, though, Rydall
found himself intrinsically
altered by Jamaica's intense
natural beauty. Back home, after
eventually finding him self
"this-close" to landing
several major roles, he realized
that acting was no longer the
primary fluid chugging through
his veins and he began to reform
his life around his writing.
Rather
than feeling any regret, though,
Rydall has found his work as a
screenwriter, speaker and
spiritual consultant to be just
as intriguing as his eccentric
films. He is the author of
'I Could Have Written a Movie
Better Than That' and
recently spent some time on the
writing staff of 'Power
Rangers: Wild Force' ("My
kids loved that!"). He is
currently working with major
studios on two films - one that,
briefly, even had a role that
would have been perfect for him.
"Things changed," he
notes. Still, there's always
another project - and even if
Rydall never graces the silver
screen again, he has left behind
a proud legacy with his
appearances in some of the most
interesting and fun horror films
of the late 80's and early 90's.
(For more
information on Derek Rydall be
sure to check out his websites www.scriptwritercentral.com and www.enlightenedentertainer.com.)
Bio
by Brian Kirst |