They always say that the second film is harder to make than the first. In the case of the Bill & Ted trilogy, the first film’s success meant the sequel needed something extra special to set it apart. The story’s heroes have to find their way out of hell, into heaven, and build good robots of themselves to defeat their evil robot counterparts, but they couldn’t have done it without picking up a new companion along the way.
Following the 4K release of Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey from Arrow Video, FILMHOUNDS got a chance to talk with William Sadler, the man, the voice behind the iconic character of Death, who joins the heroes on their wild adventure to hell and heaven.
Were you a fan of Bill & Ted before you joined the sequel?
I hadn’t seen the first movie when I auditioned for the Grim Reaper, but I saw it after that. I knew who they [Bill & Ted] were and thought they were hysterical, the first film was great.
What were your first impressions about the character ‘Death’?
The second movie confused me when I first read it because the Grim Reaper wasn’t particularly funny. He’s kinda written scary and I thought (laughs) how can I help this and that’s when I decided on the Czechoslovakian accent. I stole that accent from an actor named Jan Tříska who I had worked with on stage. He was so funny, you could listen to him read the newspaper.
Was the voice the first thing you thought of when you were wearing the robe and holding the scythe, did you stop and think, this needs an accent?
(Laughs) Well, there was none of that at the audition. I read the scene— the game sequence—and I did it with the accent. I didn’t hear anything for about three weeks, and I thought, okay, that one didn’t happen. But Karen Rea, the casting director, called me and said: “I need you to go to a Halloween store and get some grey make-up to spray in your hair and black out your teeth, then come back and do the same audition because they think you’re too young.” They had been thinking, Death, he’s older—someone like Christopher Lee or Christopher Lloyd.
Instead I called up the make-up artist I had worked with on Die Hard 2, Scott Eddo and told him my problem. The morning of the audition he made me up to look like a 70 year old. I think I was 39 or 40 at the time, so I was much younger and cuter. He made me look genuinely older. At the audition, they were surprised at how old I looked in person.
Do you think you influenced the filmmakers in any way? Once you were in the costume, with the make up on, scythe in hand…
The first time I put on the make up and the costume was the first day of filming. Even after I got the job, they hadn’t decided. The filmmakers were still deciding on the make up. But the costume was made and they made me 6 inches taller with these big clunky shoes.
What was the first scene you filmed?
We filmed the game sequence. This was the first time I met Alex [Winter] and Keanu [Reeves]. I remember the producers standing around watching the filming, waiting to see how the scene was going to turn out. When it turned out to be funny, you could see them breathe a sigh of relief. After that, they all backed off. They didn’t know how it was going to go. It was still early enough for them to say “I’m sorry Bill, it’s just not going to work out.”
I can’t imagine a world where you didn’t play this character exactly how you played it.
I thought so too. As soon as they saw the game sequence, they knew it was going to be fine. I loved working with the director Peter Hewitt and the writers, Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. I had a lot of ideas, once I unleashed him [Death], no way to stop him, so I would talk to the writers.
For instance, I couldn’t make the Reaper’s rap at the end work, so I asked the writers if they wouldn’t mind if I tried to come up with something. What I came up with was “You might be a king or little street sweeper but sooner or later you dance with the Reaper.” They put it in!
That’s great that they loved your ideas instead of saying: “That’s not going to make the cut.”
They didn’t love all my ideas (laughs) but they loved a couple of them. They were always offered in the spirit of “I think this is funnier.” For example, we were shooting in the hardware store, assembling the good robots and I said to Peter Hewitt, “You know what would be fun, if there is a customer smoking and as the reaper walks by and says “See you real soon.” But we didn’t have an actor to play the customer, so Pete Hewitt said he’d play the part.
You also play another role in the film, and I’m interested to know, was this also your idea?
(Laughs) You mean the British father at the end? I always love doing accents. I had asked Pete Hewitt if there was a place in the movie where I could appear without the make-up, and that’s what they came up with. I just wanted my real face in the movie. At the wrap party, there were people in the crew who didn’t know who I was because I had always gotten to the sets three hours earlier to get the make up done. Also, in that scene, that is my actual wife and daughter.
You’ve had an amazing career, and you’ve played many memorable roles, how do all these characters measure up to Death? Would you say the character is in your top five favourites?
(Laughs) Death was maybe the most fun and creative role. I had played villain after villain, and I had followed Alan Rickman in the Die Hard sequel—talk about big shoes to fill! But with Death, I got a chance to be funny, and this has always been a part of my nature. If it’s not number one, it’s two. Shawshank [Redemption] is up there pretty high as well. Playing Death was a lot of fun to do, he had a great arc. At the beginning you’re supposed to be afraid of him, but then Bill and Ted challenge him to Battleship and he loses. This is when he starts to crumble right before your eyes; he becomes this petulant, spoiled little shit. He lies, he cheats, he falls apart. He ends up on an adventure, meeting god wearing a dress and all of that silliness. By the end of it, he wants to be part of the band, that’s all he really wanted, which I thought was genius, great writing.
From the start you think he’s going to be the villain but it turns out he’s part of the gang.
Right! It was fun casting for me too because people would expect me to be dangerous.
Is there a particular scene, where you look back and remember a favourite time on set?
I think the hardware store was one of the most fun. The game sequence too. But I was nervous the first day of filming. Don’t know if you’ve done this, where you’ve been brought on board to do something and there’s a million people looking at you and someone says “action”. I was even happier than the producers when that first day went well. Maybe it was the game sequence that was my favourite.
Throughout the entire process of making the film, creating this character, did you have any inkling that this was going to be a cult hit?
I didn’t think that far ahead. No, I had no idea. I also had no idea that they’d do another film 30 years later, which was also fun to do.
Surprisingly, the first moment that Alex, Keanu and I were all on set together, it was as if no time had passed at all.
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is out now on Limited Edition 4K UHD from Arrow Video.
