Actor, musician and star of the 1986 film “Stand By Me” Corey Feldman can’t believe it’s been 40 years since the movie premiered.
“It’s wild, it is really wild,” Feldman said in an interview.
On Friday, Feldman and his costars Wil Wheaton and Jerry O’Connell will head to the Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland on the “’Stand By Me’: The Film and its Stars 40 Years Later” tour. The evening will include a screening of the movie along with a Q&A with the actors.
The coming-of-age film based on Stephen King’s novella “The Body” stars Feldman, Wheaton, O’Connell and the late River Phoenix. The quartet play four boys in 1959 Oregon who go on a journey to see a dead body. In some ways, it’s a movie about nostalgia, making a 40th anniversary tour very fitting.
Feldman is immensely grateful for the lasting legacy that “Stand By Me” has enjoyed with generations of film lovers.
“I’ve done over 100 films at this point in my career, so to have just one that’s special enough to warrant something like this is pretty miraculous,” he said.
Unfortunately, this tour isn’t without its sadness. The film’s fourth star, River Phoenix, passed away in 1993 at the age of 23 before even getting to see the film’s 10th anniversary.
There will be an empty chair at each of the tour’s Q&A sessions to represent Phoenix.
“The tragic part is not having River with us. You really feel his absence. You really feel him in the room, that’s why we set up an empty chair for him,” Feldman said.
But even more tragic was the death of the film’s director, Rob Reiner, last December. Feldman said that the three actors were talking in a group text as the news was unfolding.
“When it happened — it was the first night of Hannukah — and I started getting texts from the two guys,” he said. “We just kind of watched all the news unravel and as every clue came out, we’re texting each other, saying, ‘Oh my god, it’s getting worse.’ ”
Feldman said that experience was a “very surrealistic, heavy moment.”
“These three guys who worked with him when we were kids watching the fate of our leader, our hero. It’s just such a tragic thing,” he said.
Reiner was an important part of Feldman’s development, not just as an actor but as a person. Growing up as the victim of abuse, the young star carried a lot of pain with him.
“Rob saw that pain in me and he didn’t know where it was coming from. He had to console me a lot, he had to daddy me a lot,” Feldman said. “There was a need for that because I didn’t have a father at the time.”
Feldman said that the connection between himself and Reiner was sacred to him. He also said that “Stand By Me” was the best filmmaking experience of his career, only rivaled by 1985’s “The Goonies.”
“I honestly had the best summer of my life being out there,” he said.
The movie was filmed in Oregon and California, and Feldman said that he experienced freedom and camaraderie during the shoot that changed his life.
“I think that the movie overall is a beautifully crafted piece of art. It’s an incredible story by Stephen King,” Feldman said.
He is also excited that Wil Wheaton provided the narration for a new edition of the audiobook for “The Body.”
The film recalls a time before modern technology when kids wandered freely to have their own experiences.
“We still remember what it was like to go out on adventures and not be staring at phones the whole time. It was just like, ‘go have the adnveutre.’
“It was a very special time and it encapsulates a very special moment in our history on this Earth as a society,” he said.
Feldman is excited to hit the road with his costars for the first time since the 25th anniversary of the film, and to share the memories of “Stand By Me” with its fans. He said that the three main actors are closer now than ever.
“It’s a brotherhood that laid dormant for most of our lives,” he said.
“‘Stand By Me: The Film and its Stars 40 Years Later” will come to Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland on Friday night. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the show will begin at 7:30 p.m. To get tickets, visit standbymelive.com.