All these actors did not yet know that they would be the future stars of “Outsiders”: discover the unpublished auditions of the casting of the cult film by Francis Ford Coppola, videos shared by the director himself.
Last February, Francis Ford Coppola celebrated his classic Outsiders by releasing audition footage of the film's young stars, who have become legends. Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon and Rob Lowe were among the magical cast.
“42 years ago, we cast Outsiders in a unique way,” Coppola wrote in an Instagram post.We had all the actors together on a set and alternated between different actors reading for different roles.”
He continued: “It was interesting because each of them was watching their competition, so even though it could have been a volatile situation, it turned into a very positive one. A natural respect and camaraderie developed between them. The result worked wonderfully and reminded me of my days as a camp counselor.”
The shared images show the actors reading excerpts from the script of Outsidersreleased in 1983, including lines of dialogue from roles they were not auditioning for. Anthony Michael Hall appears in a tape reading the role of the main character Ponyboy, which was given to C. Thomas Howell.
A few cast members added comments under Coppola's post, recalling the experience.The people who came to these auditions… many have gone on to have great careers.”, wrote C. Thomas Howell. “Amazing”.
““These auditions and this film experience still shape me today.”wrote Ralph Macchiothe Karate Kid and Cobra Kai star, thanked the Oscar-winning filmmaker, while Rob Lowe added: “It seems like yesterday!”
As a reminder, the film takes place in 1966 and tells the story of two rival teenage gangs in the small rural town of Tulsa, Oklahoma: Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell), Sodapop (Rob Lowe) and Darrel (Patrick Swayze) belong to the Greasers gang, young delinquents from deprived neighborhoods. Their rivals are the Socs, sons of bourgeois families. Following a deadly fight, Ponyboy and Johnny (Ralph Macchio) must then try to escape the police.
Outsiders (1983) is available to watch again on VOD.
Check out all the auditions in the videos below: