Campbell still flying high 20 years later with 'The Rocketeer'

Billy Campbell said it was no doubt a thrill to have a jet engine strapped to his back to take flight in the title role of "The Rocketeer," mainly because he ultimately got to rely on good, old-fashioned movie magic to take flight. But when your character is supposed to be a seasoned racing pilot, it's crucial that the audience believes that you've logged some serious air time on screen, too.

And that can be big problem when one of your biggest fears is of flying.

"(Director) Joe Johnston came to me after I was cast in the film and said, 'We have this crazy idea. We actually want to do the scenes at the beginning in an old plane,' and asked me if I'd be willing to go up in one of them," Campbell recalled for me in a recent interview. "But my fear of flying is strange. I don't like flying in planes that have engines -- especially commercial flights -- but I also own and fly a hang-glider which I love doing. So it's not like I don't like flying and don't like the thought of being in the air; I just don't like being in the air and strapped to an engine."

Of course, the production spared no expense in getting a seasoned stunt pilot to help ease Campbell's fears -- a comfort that Campbell related, that at least worked on the ground.

"Craig Hoskings, who is one of the best stunt pilots in the world, flew me around -- but it was still pretty frickin' hairy," Campbell said, laughing. "There were things that I had to control from the second cockpit in the plane, like the tail-wheel lock and the oil (which splashes in his face in his face during the scene) and some other things. When we rehearsed the scene on the ground, Craig had this microphone that he'd speak instructions into, and I could hear him (in headphones) under my hat. But when we went up to shoot, the engine was drowning the sound out entirely, so I just sort of faked doing the things I was supposed to do when I was supposed to do them -- but it all went OK."

Campbell, of course, happily survived, and was enthusiastic when talking about his experiences making "The Rocketeer," which is celebrating its 20th anniversary with its debut release on Blu-ray (Walt Disney Home Entertainment).

Based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Dave Stevens, "The Rocketeer" tells the story of racing pilot Cliff Secord (Campbell): a daring young pilot who happens upon a prototype jetpack that, after some tweaks by his mechanic, Peevy (Alan Arkin), propels him into the role of a high-flying superhero. But not long after he takes flight for the first time, Cliff finds that the FBI, the mob and the Nazis all want to seize the jetpack -- and some will go so far as to kill to get it back.

"The Rocketeer" is interesting in that it doesn't exist in a world all of its own. Set in the late 1930s as the globe is on the cusp of World War II, the story is set among historical figures like Howard Hughes (Terry O'Quinn, in a brilliant pre-"Lost" role), and has J. Edgar Hoover's G-Men hot on the case. Rounding out the story are fictional characters like Neville St. Claire (Timothy Dalton) -- a Golden Age of Hollywood movie star who possesses the same sort of dashing charm and charisma as Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Errol Flynn.

Needless to say, Campbell was ecstatic about the opportunity to play his first big-screen role in such a rich setting.

"I hadn't been familiar with the comic book, so I remember reading the script and thinking, 'This is pretty terrific how Hollywood history was woven into the story," Campbell recalled. "Since it was such of a long audition process, I went out and bought the comic book in the middle of it all, and I was blown away. It really threw my appreciation for the script into hyper-drive."

Campbell, who said he got his role in the film "because Johnny Depp turned it down," said he's extremely grateful for "The Rocketeer," because it opened doors to a career that includes roles in such noted films as "Gettysburg," "Gods and Generals" and "Ghost Town," and in such hit television series as "Once and Again," "The O.C." and most recently, "The Killing."

The actor said he knew was in for a special career during his work on "The Rocketeer" because the next call he received came for a role in a legendary director's version of "Bram Stoker's Dracula" in 1992.

"My audition was with Francis Ford Coppola and we got to hang out for a little bit," Campbell said. "He actually wanted me to play the Keanu Reeves part and lobbied for me to, but the studio would not hear of it. I ended up playing Quincey, but I loved that part."

With this notoriety over the years, has come some confusion, however. Campbell said, thanks to a mistake on the Internet Movie Database, people are always asking him if he's the second cousin of veteran actor Bruce Campbell, who also carved out a fine career for himself following director Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" trilogy.

"We actually worked for 15 minutes together on a film once. Bruce is a great guy and really funny," Campbell recalled. "Years later somebody asked him, 'Are you related to Billy Campbell?' and he said, 'No, no, I'm Campbell who can act.'"