Interview: ‘The Goonies’ Star Corey Feldman Shares Vital Life Lessons

CHICAGO – Corey Feldman is a survivor, both of his own child acting era and the aftermath of growing up. Best known for a string of 1980s cult favorites, including “Stand by Me” and “The Goonies,” he also partnered with Corey Haim, to forever be known as The Two Coreys. Feldman was in Chicago in January to introduce his films at The Hollywood Palms Theater (Naperville, Illinois) and Hollywood Blvd Theater (Woodridge).

Corey Feldman was born in Los Angeles in 1971, and began his acting career at the age of three in a McDonald’s commercial. After appearances in over 100 commercials and 50 TV guest roles, he broke out in the 1980s and starred in 15 number one box office champs in a row. These films included “Gremlins” (1984), “The Goonies” (1985), “Stand by Me” (1986) and “The Lost Boys” (1987). It was in The Lost Boys that Feldman was first paired with Corey Haim, and the two distinguished themselves with the memorable nickname of The Two Coreys.

Corey Feldman in Chicago, January 13, 2011 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com.

Pairings with Haim included the “License to Drive” (1988) and “Dream a Little Dream” (1989). Feldman and Haim would continue to work over the years together, culminating in 2007 with their A&E network reality show, “The Two Coreys.” The show petered out after two seasons, due to Haim’s drug abuse and erratic behavior. Although Feldman broke ties with Haim after the series, they did make up shortly before Haim’s death in March of 2010.

Feldman, who had also been linked as a friend to Michael Jackson, is a musician and lead singer of the band “Truth Movement.” He continues to produce and act, including his latest film, “Operation Belvis Bash.”

HollywoodChicago.com had a face-to-face encounter with Corey Feldman, and he talked about the angles of his truly unique life.

HollywoodChicago.com: What project or entertainment-based happening is currently your occupation? What do you want people to know as to what you’re accomplishing now?

Cory Feldman: Well, the reason I’m here is that they’re honoring me with a film festival, which is kind of nice to reflect on the old stuff. But more exciting is the world premiere of my new film ‘Operation Belvis Bash.’ This was last minute, because we were doing the film festival they asked me if I wanted to include anything. I was thinking a more recent film, and I thought why not do something for the people of Chicago that hasn’t been seen yet, so I premiered the film for the first time anywhere. It’s a film premiere here in ‘Hollywood in Chicago.’

Also there is a new Lost Boys film on DVD, ‘Lost Boys: The Thirst,’ which has gotten great reviews. Coinciding with that is an album from my band Truth Movement, which is called ‘Technology Analogy,’ and we actually used one of the songs from the new album on the soundtrack of the new Lost Boys film. Also in the Operation Belvis Bash soundtrack, I wrote a song about the war, ‘Take a Stand.’

HollywoodChicago.com: What did you think was cool about the 1950s childhood you were depicting in “Stand By Me” that made that part so close to your personal life at the time?

Feldman: I grew up in the late 1970s, early ’80s, and for me the popular television shows were ‘Happy Days’ and ‘Laverne and Shirley.’ That was all about 1950s nostalgia. And as a musician, one of the first bands I liked as a kid was ‘Bill Haley and the Comets.’ So I already liked that stuff, and it was very exciting to add ‘Stand by Me’ to all that.

HollywoodChicago.com: In retrospect, what do you feel you lost the most in your life by being a working child actor?

Feldman: I lost my childhood, number one. I couldn’t do the normal things like friend sleep overs or playing Little League. I felt deprived from those sort of things. Number two, and most importantly, I lost the opportunity for choice in life. Most human beings have the opportunity to choose a path in life. But I was famous before I knew my own name. My first memories are of going to work, and I don’t remember anything before that. In my reality, life didn’t exist outside the entertainment industry.

People ask me questions about getting their kids in the industry, or what do I do to make my kid a star, to follow in your footsteps. My answer is always the same. Keep them as far away from it as possible. I have my own son, six years old, and literally since the moment he’s been born I’ve had offers to put him in commercials, print work, TV, all that stuff. I do everything I can to keep him away from it. At the end of the day, yeah it’s cute to have a kid in show business, but you have to think about how that will effect the rest of their lives.

I was so famous at a young age, that when I came to the crossroads when most people are going to college, or deciding what their careers will be, there was no choice for me. I had to complete what I was doing, or otherwise I would have been a loser. You can’t see Corey Feldman working at Blockbuster or at H&R Block doing your income taxes. ‘What happened to that guy? What a loser.’ So I was edged into a career path long before I knew what that meant.

Survivor: Corey Feldman at Peace Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com.

HollywoodChicago.com: Given the tsunami of coverage given Michael Jackson’s death, do you think anything was left out about him that you know, that didn’t come out around the time of his passing?

Feldman: No, I can’t say that. I remembered during the period of his death that he was the most talked about human being for about sixty days. I can’t imagine that there was any detail from the good, the bad and the ugly that was left out.

HollywoodChicago.com: Didn’t you have an incident with Jackson in New York City around the time of 9/11?

Feldman: We had a falling out on 9/10 in New York City, which was the ‘Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary Special’ at Madison Square Garden. I have a classic photo from that time which was myself, Yoko Ono, Michael Jackson and my ex-wife, and it was taken by Sean Lennon. Then we had this ridiculous fight, and although I stayed close with the family over the rest of the years, he and I never spoke again.

It does serve as a lesson for forgiveness. By contrast, Corey Haim and I had a similar falling out, but his was centered more on tough love and I felt that I had to step away for him to get it together. I guess that worked because now people know now that he didn’t die because of a drug situation, the autopsy report had no drugs in his system. Years of damage had taken its toll, but he died of pneumonia and an enlarged heart.

HollywoodChicago.com: So what were the circumstances of coming back together with Haim before he passed?

Feldman: He wanted to put an end to our differences, which came out of the end of our reality show, when I felt we couldn’t continue the production in the condition he was in. I also didn’t want to broadcast to the world his problems, which became harder to mask as the production went on, and keep it out of the show. I told him flat out that I couldn’t work with him or be his friend, because that was supporting his sickness. It was a tough love thing and I wasn’t going to come back until he got it together.

The positive was six months before he died he approached me and told me his mother had cancer and wasn’t doing well, so he was taking care of her, taking her to chemotherapy and he really needed a friend at that point. I had six major deaths in a row in my life even before his passing, and had just gone through a divorce. All I can say is that I am grateful that we had a chance in those last six months to re-bond, to rekindle our friendship and spend a lot of time together, just like the old days.

We had a lot of fun during those last six months. Which made it so much harder and shocking when he did pass away. The big lesson in all of it is forgiveness. It’s very important that we embrace the friendships and the relationships that we have because you never know when someone will be gone. They’re here today, gone tomorrow, and that is reality.

[16]	By PATRICK McDONALD [17] Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com [16]