How Corey Feldman used anger in his ‘Stand By Me’ audition
By the time Corey Feldman secured his role in Rob Reiner’s 1986 coming-of-age drama Stand By Me, he had already appeared in several 1980s classics, including The Goonies and Friday the 13th. However, securing the role in Reiner’s beloved film was not merely a foregone conclusion.
Discussing his audition for the film, Feldman remembered: “I’d just finished doing The Goonies with Richard Donner and had to go in the middle of looping to read for Stand By Me, which was at that time called ‘The Body’. And my credits before this were Gremlins and Goonies and Friday the 13th. So you know, I was kind of on a roll.”
Indeed, even at a young age, Feldman had starred in many top-rated movies and had his tail up in confidence. However, one of his competitors in the audition and his mother wound him up by claiming that the kind of film Feldman had starred in were the tell-tale signs of a short career.
“I was sitting in the waiting room, and I don’t remember who it was, but one of the kids who was up against me was talking with their mothers,” Feldman continued. “And they had mentioned something about, ‘well, you know, those Friday the 13th movies, aren’t they trashy?’ ‘Yeah, they’re terrible, you know, all the people in that, you never end up seeing them again. They never do anything; their careers just go right down the drain.’”
Rather than let these remarks – undoubtedly intended the throw Feldman off his game – get to him, Feldman instead used them to his advantage. “I remember sitting there looking at the sides for Teddy, and I was thinking, ‘Wow, well, just waiting until they see what I’m going to do.’ So I just read the sides, and I was so ambitious just to get this role, simply because of the fact that they made that comment in the waiting room.”
Feldman remembered thinking that he had to show the film producers that he “was able to do a lot more than Friday the 13th.” Following his successful audition, Feldman heard an interview with Rob Reiner about why he got the part and not any of the other kids doing an audition.
“I recall seeing an interview that Rob did, where they asked him about how he came about choosing me, he said. “And he had said that the reason he chose me was that when I walked in the room, he saw so much hurt and so much anger in my eyes that he knew that I was the only person who could play that role.”
