‘Bill & Ted’ Writer Really Wanted Eddie Van Halen in Sequel: ‘He Was a Big Influence’
Eddie Van Halen, the guitar legend who died Tuesday at 65, has received tributes from countless rockers and celebrities — including the fictional Wyld Stallyns from “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”
“Bill & Ted” writer Ed Solomon said that he and co-writer Chris Matheson desperately wanted Van Halen to make a cameo of some kind in this year’s sequel “Bill & Ted Face the Music” and that his music greatly shaped the narrative direction of the film.
“Super sad to hear about the passing of Eddie Van Halen. He was a big influence on Chris and me as we were writing ‘Bill & Ted.’ In fact, when director Stephen Herek was reading the script he got three pages in, stopped, put on ‘1984’ and resumed. We wanted the movie to be a cinematic ‘Jump,'” Solomon wrote on Twitter. “We tried to get him to do something — anything — in ‘Face the Music,’ but they said he was unavailable and wouldn’t tell us why. Sadly, I think I know now.”
Van Halen died Tuesday at 65 after a years-long battle with throat cancer, his son Wolfgang confirmed on Twitter.
Of course. an Eddie Van Halen cameo in “Face the Music” would’ve been truly excellent, as both Bill S. Preston (Alex Winter) and Theodore “Ted” Logan (Keanu Reeves) have a great scene early on in the original 1989 film about why they need Van Halen on lead guitar in their band.
Both Solomon and the film’s star, Alex Winter, shared that clip from the film Tuesday, and Winter captioned the clip with his own disappointed “ugh.”
“Bill & Ted Face the Music,” directed by Dean Parisot, opened this August in theaters and online and reunited Winter and Reeves as the lovable Californian slackers. And the film did feature some rock cameos, including one scene featuring Dave Grohl.
See Solomon’s tweets below:
Super sad to hear about the passing of Eddie Van Halen. He was a big influence on Chris & me as we were writing Bill & Ted. In fact, when director Stephen Herek was reading the script he got 3 pages in, stopped, put on 1984 & resumed. We wanted the movie to be a cinematic “Jump.” pic.twitter.com/B2oTnDMWdH
— Ed Solomon (@ed_solomon) October 6, 2020
We tried to get him to do something – anything – in Face the Music, but they said he was unavailable and wouldn’t tell us why. Sadly, I think I know now.
— Ed Solomon (@ed_solomon) October 6, 2020
And of course.. pic.twitter.com/vmUQ6qVzio
— Ed Solomon (@ed_solomon) October 6, 2020
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