Aerosmith fans are in for a treat when frontman Steven Tyler appears in Casey Tebo’s indie horror Happy Birthday (read our review), about two friends who embark on a journey to Mexicali for a Birthday celebration, only to soon realize their psychedelic shenanigans have taken a turn for the worse.
We caught up with Tyler in an exclusive interview to chat about his role in Happy Birthday, which he calls “A crazy f*cking 90 minute ride you wont forget.”
BD LUIZ: What’s your favourite movie and why? Bonus points if it’s a scary one.
“The stock answer would be YOUNG FRANKENSTIEN (because of “Walk This Way”), but I don’t know, I’m so in love with all these comic book movies that come out every year. How about The Avengers? I mean, a bunch of people with special talents who are good alone but better as a group and who need each other, but also at times can’t stand each other? Like I don’t know – a band? YA THINK?!”
BD LUIZ: Beyond music and film, what other art forms do you enjoy?
“One of the perks of being in a band like Aerosmith is you get to travel the world, so my house is full of everything from Wizard of Oz snow globes and lunchboxes, to Inui carvings. I love it all, honestly.”
BD LUIZ: While playing Kasape Suka in Happy Birthday, were you influenced by any personal experiences?
“Here’s the thing about the Mexican people and Mexico. It’s not like people think. It’s not dirty, and dangerous. Sure, there are parts but so are parts of the U.S.. Ever been to Guadalajara or Monterrey? Gorgeous. Super Cosmopolitan – amazing nightlife and restaurants, commerce, retail…. Casey has a quote in the movie about Americans views on Mexico, it’s skewed- so when he told me some people on YouTube were criticizing him for making Mexicali look “dangerous” it just made me laugh. Have these people seen the movie? How do you even know they’re actually in Mexicali?!?!? Come on YouTubers. Mexico is amazing if you know it like we do. We go down there and there’s 80,000 kids packed in a soccer stadium because they love rock and roll. So yeah, I drew inspiration from those amazing kids.”
BD LUIZ: Did your experience with the Aerosmith music videos and behind-the-scenes documentaries help with your performance, or is it just natural showbiz talent?
“I’ve been on enough movie sets and done enough videos to know it all starts with the director. Have you seen the video for ‘Janie’s Got a Gun?’ – David Fincher directed that, and you can clearly see that. He’s also very serious as is it was our most serious video. Casey kept a great atmosphere. He played lots of loud music, and had lots of laughing; it creates a bond, you know? But really he has just a great work ethic, and I think that shows in the movie.”
BD LUIZ: Do you have any plans to make more films with Casey Tebo? I really enjoyed Happy Birthday and would be delighted to see you guys working together again.
“Absolutely. I think his next feature is a sci-fi film based on his short “The Captivus 2.0″ – And that just blew my mind. I get to play a junk yard proprietor or bartender type. He said something about it last time we spoke. I guess I can only be worried when he does a sports movie or something like that. But I could be a surly Texas oil man who owns a team, why not?”
BD LUIZ: What’s your favourite use of your music in film and/or television so far?
“I think it would be ridiculous for me to say anything other than Armageddon. I mean, that movie did a lot for us as far as that song being a huge hit… And the fact that my daughter was in that scene with Ben Affleck…I mean, that has to be the one, right?”
BD LUIZ: Can we expect to see more of you in movies in the future (excluding appearances as yourself)?
“I would love to… But it’s crazy, you know, a guy like me… I’m going to be on tour for most of 2017… so if somebody calls me to play a pawn shop owner in the new Flash movie, what can I do?”
