?Bill and Ted? writing
team turned
improvisational sketch into movie
by Bob Fenster
The Arizona Republic
In Bill and Ted?s Bogus
Journey, there are two Bills and two Teds. In real life, there are
also two sets of the southern California goofballs.
Before actors Alex Winter
and Keanu Reeves became Bill and Ted, writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon were
Bill and Ted.
Matheson and Solomon are
the actor-writers who created Bill and Ted as part of their work with an improv
group.
"One night, we were
asked to do two guys who know nothing about world affairs talking about world
affairs," Matheson said.
That?s how Bill and Ted
evolved.
"Their language
evolved through our joking around," Solomon said.
The duo eventually wrote
a movie based on their two alter egos. They developed the script by
assuming the characters of Bill (Matheson) and Ted (Solomon).
"We?ve been kicked
out of every coffeehouse in L.A. for acting like Bill and Ted," Matheson
said.
They considered playing
the parts themselves in the movie, but no one in Hollywood took them seriously.
"If we had played
the parts ourselves, it would have been eccentric and excruciating,"
Solomon admitted.
That first script became Bill
and Ted?s Excellent Adventure, a low-budget comedy that surprised everyone
by becoming a big-profit hit.
After selling the script
for the movie, Matheson and Solomon did something Bill and Ted in their
innocence might have done: They sold the rights to the characters they had
created.
Therefore, Matheson and
Solomon don?t get a cut of the TV cartoon profits, or an upcoming live-action
series, or the action toys, or the cereal, or anything else.
"We had no idea they
would be so popular," Matheson said, grinning sheepishly.
What Matheson and Solomon
did get was a chance to write the sequel, Bill and Ted?s Bogus Journey.
"When we started
talking about the sequel, we said, ?What if they die and hang out with the
Grim Reaper??" Solomon said. "The studio said, ?No, we never
kill people in sequels.? But they finally gave us a chance to do
it."
Solomon and Matheson
agreed that Bill and Ted are fun to write for.
"They never have a
negative thought," Solomon said. "They like everybody."
"Which is completely
opposite from Ed and myself," Matheson added.
Will the writing duo keep
on scripting the movie duo?
"I like these
characters a lot," Solomon said. "But I don?t want to be
writing them when I?m 55 years old."
What would Bill and Ted
think of Matheson and Solomon?
"Because they like
everyone, they would like us," Solomon said.
"But that?s the
only reason," Matheson said.
