The maverick auteur behind a 1970s cult classic is set to rise again.
An excerpt from the NYT story:
SANTA ROSA VALLEY, Calif. - It has been more than 30 years, but Billy Jack is still plenty ticked off.
Back then, it was bigotry against Native Americans, trouble with the nuclear power industry and big bad government that made this screen hero explode in karate-fueled rage. At the time, the unlikely combination of rugged-loner heroics - all in defense of society's downtrodden and forgotten - and rough-edged filmmaking sparked a pop culture and box-office phenomenon.
Now the man who created and personified Billy Jack, Tom Laughlin - the writer, director, producer and actor - is determined to take on the establishment again, and his concerns are not so terribly different. Mr. Laughlin (and therefore Billy Jack) is angry about the war in Iraq and about the influence of big business in politics. And he still has a thing for the nuclear power industry.
Everett CollectionTom Laughlin, "Billy Jack" in 1971, fought for the downtrodden.
"I'm going to say a lot of egregious things," Mr. Laughlin, 73, announced at the start of an interview at his home here in the rolling horse country east of Los Angeles. His face is creased with deep lines, his hair a bleached gray, but he is still entirely recognizable as the handsome Billy Jack.
"We despise both political parties, really loathe them," he said. ("We" might be Mr. Laughlin and his alter ego, or it might include his wife, Delores Taylor, who played Billy Jack's pacifist partner, Jean; but one doesn't interrupt the man lightly.)
"We the people have no representative of any kind," he continued. "It's now the multinationals. They've taken over. It's no different than the 70's, but it's gotten worse. And if you use words like 'impeachment' or 'fascist' you're a nut on a soapbox."
So Mr. Laughlin and Ms. Taylor are planning to bring their characters back to the big screen with a new $12 million sequel, raising money from individuals just as they did to make their films three decades ago.
Jamie Rector for The New York TimesThe husband-and-wife team of Tom Laughlin (Billy Jack) and Delores Taylor (Jean).
In this new film, they say, they will take on social scourges like drugs, and power players like the religious right. They say they will also outline a way to end the current war and launch a political campaign for a third-party presidential candidate.
They have already formed a 527 nonprofit committee with the aim of ending the war, and say they will run full-page ads in major newspapers beginning next month explaining their plan to withdraw from Iraq. (Money raised for that committee is separate from the film project.)
"We both have our reasons for doing this," said Ms. Taylor, who joined the conversation midway through. "Mine is for our children - we have three - and four grandchildren. I feel right now America is in a big, big problem. I feel America is falling apart."
"We despise both political parties, really loathe them," he said. ("We" might be Mr. Laughlin and his alter ego, or it might include his wife, Delores Taylor, who played Billy Jack's pacifist partner, Jean; but one doesn't interrupt the man lightly.)"We the people have no representative of any kind," he continued. "It's now the multinationals. They've taken over. It's no different than the 70's, but it's gotten worse. And if you use words like 'impeachment' or 'fascist' you're a nut on a soapbox."
So Mr. Laughlin and Ms. Taylor are planning to bring their characters back to the big screen with a new $12 million sequel, raising money from individuals just as they did to make their films three decades ago.
In this new film, they say, they will take on social scourges like drugs, and power players like the religious right. They say they will also outline a way to end the current war and launch a political campaign for a third-party presidential candidate.
They have already formed a 527 nonprofit committee with the aim of ending the war, and say they will run full-page ads in major newspapers beginning next month explaining their plan to withdraw from Iraq. (Money raised for that committee is separate from the film project.)
"We both have our reasons for doing this," said Ms. Taylor, who joined the conversation midway through. "Mine is for our children - we have three - and four grandchildren. I feel right now America is in a big, big problem. I feel America is falling apart."
