The Remarkable Way Judge Reinhold Was Cast Fast Times And Why His Opinion On The Film Changed
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Fast Times At Ridgemont High changed Judge Reinhold's career. While he hasn't exactly been in the spotlight since his Beverly Hills Cop days, he was one of many cast members to make a ton of money from the film. While it took a while for Amy Heckerling's 1982 raunchy teen coming-of-age story to find an audience, it ultimately proved to be a launching pad for several of the stars, Reinhold included.
But if there's one thing movie-lovers know about Hollywood, it's that stars don't always love the projects they're in. In an interview with LA Mag, Judge was brutally honest about his feelings regarding his fellow cast members. But he also shed a lot of light on the legacy of Fast Times and what he actually thought of it at the time...
Why Judge Reinhold Was Cast In Fast Times In Ridgemont High
In his interview with LA Mag, Judge explained that he almost wasn't cast as the ever-relatable Brad in Fast Times At Ridgemont High.
"They would have cast Nic Cage in a second, but he was 17 years old, and they would have had to switch to child actor hours," Judge explained of his much younger and now uber-famous co-star.
While Nic was Amy Heckerling and the producers' first choice, Judge eventually got asked to come in and read for the part. Mostly because he was friendly with Amy and her upstairs neighbor.
"I lived upstairs from Amy. She brought me in, but she told me not to tell [the producers] that we knew each other," Judge revealed.
Had the producers (mainly Art Linson) known that Amy was potentially favoring him, they simply wouldn't have taken Judge seriously as a contender.
"I read a few times, it was nerve-racking, and it came down to the final day. Art looks at me, and he goes, 'Look how old he is. He’s as old as Ed Asner.' Like, I’m in the room! I’m like, oh my god. This is going on right in front of me," Judge said, who was 22 at the time of the audition.
"I had some footage of me in an after-school thing. So that helped them a lot," Judge explained.
Ultimately, it was the scene he read that booked him the part. Accoridng to Judge, it was a deleted scene with Judge and a guidance counselor.
"Art said, 'You’re the only person that didn’t feel sorry for himself when he read.' I understood the tone of the movie. I didn’t realize, like, the big picture, that we were doing this American cultural statement. I just thought Brad was very, very cool. I wrote really bold on the front page [of my script]: 'Brad is living the worst year of his life.' That was my guide"
Judge went on to say, "That’s what Art saw, I think, that I saw Brad as a survivor and not a defeatist.
Does Judge Reinhold Actually Like Fast Times At Ridgemont High?
Not unlike the film's initial audience, Judge actually wasn't a huge fan of the film.
"I went through this stage of saying, 'Oh, it’s just a teenage comedy,'" Judge admitted to MEL Magazine. "But I don’t see it that way anymore. I see it as a comedy about young sexuality, and as something that’s really authentic. For people that don’t know, [screenwriter] Cameron Crowe masqueraded as a senior in a Long Beach High School to write an expose for Rolling Stone. We were so excited, because we knew that a lot of the dialogue was almost verbatim transcribed. That thing with Damone, his rules about how to get l**d—Cameron didn’t wear a wire, but he ran into the boys room and furiously wrote that down because it was so great."
"Tonally, I thought I was in a ‘70s film. That’s what I was excited about. The movies that made me want to be in movies were ‘70s films, and there was a very close overlap in this movie with the people that worked on them, like our legendary producer, Art Linson," Judge continued.
While Judge initially wasn't blown away by Fast Times At Ridgemont High, he was happy to be part of it. Particularly because of the leadership of director Amy Heckerling.
"Everybody adored Amy because they loved her student film, Getting it Over With. Amy was a humorist. I guess she was kind of a s*xual renegade because she was able to see men and women without judgment. To see s*xuality without judgment, and with humor. She thought, I think it’s safe to say, that human s*xuality is very funny. It was a terrific, respectful collaboration between Cameron and Amy, and Art. It was a really happy set. I’ll always remember Amy and Cameron laughing at the monitor, and feeling like a million bucks, because we were bringing it to life, and they liked it."
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