Jeff Nichols had dreamt of making a film about a 1960s motorcycle clubs for over 20 years.
The obsession started in his brother’s apartment, when he first cracked open Danny Lyon’s book “The Bikeriders,” a New Journalism-style account of the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club in the mid-1960s. He could see the movie in his mind: A story about rebels, romantics, frauds and the end of an era.
But he didn’t quite realize just how terrifying it would be to film the motorcycles in motion.
The bikes were vintage. The actors, including Austin Butler and Tom Hardy, would be riding at high speeds. And there would be no helmets. At some point, one of his stunt coordinators just came out with it: “There is no way to make this 100% safe.”
They went for it. The danger was kind of the point. And everyone made it out unscathed.
Their motorcycle expert (and amateur philosopher) said something that stuck with Butler. It is dangerous, but it can also be empowering.
“Your life is in your hands,’” Butler said. “But it’s also an incredible act of self-love. You have to look out for yourself. Nobody else can do it for you.”
“The Bikeriders” ( racing into theaters nationwide Friday ) is a rare summer gem: An original film with stars (including Jodie Comer, Michael Shannon, Norman Reedus and Mike Faist), cool cred, pathos and a clear-eyed wistfulness for a moment, and a type of guy, that was vanishing even as it was happening.
“There is all this romanticism around this subculture. It’s easy to become ‘Grease’ really quickly,” Nichols said. “This is a film that’s really about nostalgia. There is a sadness that comes with that. But there’s also a joy in remembering it.”
Nichols has always had luck with casting, getting movie stars in his films right as they’re about to break big. Before he made “Take Shelter,” he remembered a producer asking, “who this Jessica Chastain was.” For “The Bikeriders,” it was Butler. “ Elvis ” had yet to come out. He didn’t yet know about “ Dune: Part Two.” But when he met him, he was certain. “This guy’s a movie star, you know?” Nichols said.
“I read a lot of scripts and this one just felt different,” Butler said. “It felt full of humanity and these cinematic moments I could see in my mind’s eye. … I felt like I was being invited into this other world. And he was one of the coolest characters I’ve ever read.”
Butler’s Benny is also the most enigmatic of the bunch: A guy whose face is never shown in Lyon’s book and who is never interviewed — just talked about.
“I love how Jeff talks about him as being this empty cup that everybody wants to fill with their own expectations and their own responsibilities. He doesn’t want any of that,” Butler said. “That’s when he wants to cut loose and be free.”
And Butler brought an element to Benny that Nichols hadn’t originally envisioned. Nichols wanted Benny to be bottled up until the end and remembered telling his star to “pull it back” a few times.
“Like, stop smiling,” Nichols laughed. “When that kid smiles the whole world smiles.”
But he soon realized that was missing the point of casting someone like Butler — an emotive actor with a big heart who would go over to apologize to Hardy after a fight scene.
“At some point you have to find a balance between the character that’s on the page and the human being you have playing that part,” Nichols said. “And that character got better because of him.”
In his many years of thinking about how to make “The Bikeriders” work one of Nichols’ biggest breakthroughs was when he realized who the narrator should be: Kathy.
Based on a real woman, she falls for Benny at first sight and gets wrapped up in the club.
“If you ask Danny, Kathy was one of the most interesting people there. She just pops off the page,” Nichols said. “She’s witty, she’s introspective, she’s self-deprecating, she’s infuriating at times. She is a real person. And honestly, I just kind of fell in love with her.”
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