Summary

• The Outsiders adapted beautifully to film, capturing the essence of 1950s youth and creating iconic characters like Sodapop and Dally.
• Behind-the-scenes of the 1983 movie involved intense auditions, a young star-studded cast, and Coppola's method for authenticity.
• From real feuds between actors to a dedication to passionate fans, The Outsiders is a timeless classic with a heartfelt backstory.

The Outsiders behind the scenes story details the interesting path the book adaptation took to becoming a classic. The Outsiders is considered one of the most romantic, heroic interpretations of 1950s youth to ever be brought to a film screen. Author S.E. Hinton created a world that would transform the way teens saw themselves with characters like Sodapop, Ponyboy, and Dally becoming icons of young adult fiction and visual media in the 1980s to the present. The story centers around a group of disenfranchised teenagers, their struggles with identity, and the pressures that come with it.

The 1983 movie would become one of the best novel adaptations ever with Francis Ford Coppola leading a young cast of future stars, including Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, and Rob Lowe. As with most Coppola movies, the behind-the-scenes aspects are always as entertaining as the movie with intense audition and rehearsal processes, wild methods taken to get authenticity, and fond memories from the cast.

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1 Coppola Couldn't Afford To Pay For The Film Rights

Coppola Struck A Deal With The Author

The price of the rights to the book became an issue, even for an accomplished director like Francis Ford Coppola.

During the early talks of the film being made about the novel, the price of the rights to the book became an issue, even for an accomplished director like Francis Ford Coppola. Though the film didn’t take much of a budget to make, Coppola couldn’t pay Susan Hinton the full amount due to rights and fees to make the film. Hinton wanted $5,000 for the film adaptation but only got $500 as a down payment. As a result, the author was given a role in the film, along with two other film adaptations of her other works: Rumble Fish and Tex.

2 There Was An Unusual Audition Process

They Went In As Groups

While a normal audition usually is one person per session with the reading and performance of one particular piece, the audition for The Outsiders was far from the conventional experience for the young stars. During the auditioning process, up to 30 people at a time would come in and act out certain excerpts from the script, then take out of the huge groups which ones he liked best. Frank Roos was in charge of casting at the time of auditions for the film, having each group of actors read three parts as much or as long as they wanted.

3 Tom Cruise Auditioned For Sodapop

Cruise Took Himself Out Of The Running

One of Tom Cruise's earlier roles in the movie was as Steve, one of the Greasers who never really gets much spotlight in the film despite being around a lot. However, Cruise was part of the unusual audition process and was a contender for the role of Sodapop.

Rob Lowe, who eventually got the role of Sodapop, recalled (via The Howard Stern Show) that Cruise was auditioning in the large room full of actors and stopped midway through his monologue as Sodapop to declare, "I'm sorry. This is not working for me." Lowe remembers being surprised by the move but insists that self-awareness is part of the reason that Cruise went on to become one of the biggest stars in the world.

Lowe also revealed Dennis Quaid, Timothy Hutton, and Mickey Rourke were at the audition.

4 The Author Revealed Sodapop's Grim Future To Rob Lowe

Rob Lowe Revealed This In A Documentary

In The Outsiders: The Complete Novel documentary, Rob Lowe asked S.E . Hinton what happened to Sodapop Curtis. Hinton told Lowe that Sodapop was drafted for the Vietnam War and lost his life there. He recalled that this little detail changed the way he brought the character to life on film. This certainly creates a sort of pathos and changes the dynamic of things for the story, making Soda a tragic character whether the audience knows his fate or not.

5 The Sunset At The End Of The Film Is Not Real

It Was Some Movie Magic

Coppola wanted a beautiful sunset for Ponyboy and Johnny to act against in the closing scenes of the film. Because Oklahoma sunsets didn’t last very long, the last scene was shot on a rear screen projection to create the perfect sunset for Ponyboy's ending scene. The studio had forced Coppola to cut many of the movie's scenes over concern about length, but this was a scene he insisted on keeping as he felt it enhanced the film's ending and story, tying it together with Ponyboy's closing narration.

6 The Actors Spend Time With “Real Greasers”

It Helped Them Get Into Character

According to Vanity Fair, Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe actually spent the night at a" real Greaser's" home in Tulsa. Lowe was reluctant about staying in a house with people Coppola had just found off the street, but his fears were quelled when he found out that the strangers were not as scary as he expected Greaser types to be. Lowe and Cruise shared a meal and conversation with the couple. The event was a life-changing experience for both and ultimately was one of the many moments that got Lowe seriously thinking about his future in acting.

7 Diane Lane Was The Target Of Many Pranks

Her Time On-Set Was Not Great

Diane Lane, who played Cherry Valance, Ponyboy’s love interest and co-starred with Matt Dillon in Rumble Fish, was a victim to some of the competitive pranks that took place between the male actors during the months they were together shooting the film. She commented in Variety's oral history of The Outsiders:

“It was frightening to see and realize many violations of psyche and boundaries such as honey all over my toilet seat, something terrorizing written with my lipstick in the mirror, Vaseline on every door handle, and just when you think it’s safe and you can finally sleep that night, your bed is short-sheeted!”

8 Howell Visits Students To Discuss The Book

The Book Remains A Staple Of High School Education

Though C. Thomas Howell's movie career eventually slowed down, he continues to see the influence of The Outsiders on younger generations. He recalled (via Variety) that he still visits classrooms where young students are reading the novel and screens the movie with them:

“It’s one of my favorite things I do,” “I’ll come in to speak to them after the screening of the film. It affects these kids so deeply still."

While the book has long been a part of many school English curriculums, the acclaim of the movie and the star-studded cast have likely helped keep interest in the story alive among younger people. Seeing the story still reaching generation after generation is likely another way the actors remain connected to the experience.

9 Real Feuds Emerged Between Greaser And Soc Actors

It Added To The Realism Of The Film

Filming on The Outsiders was an unusual experience for all the actors, sometimes causing a bit more strife than was necessary due to Coppola’s methods for getting them into character for filming.

Filming on The Outsiders was an unusual experience for all the actors, sometimes causing a bit more strife than was necessary due to Coppola’s methods for getting them into character for filming. Once the actors were chosen for their respective roles, director Coppola separated the actors according to the gangs they were chosen for as a source of method acting to get real tension between the two groups on film (via Digital Exhibits).

This resulted in a real rift between Matt Dillon (Dallas) and Diane Lane (Cherry). An early tiff between the two had started during their first meeting and would ultimately make its way onto the set during the filming process. This accounts for the authentic animosity between Dally and Cherry in their early scenes together.

10 The Church Fire Was Real And Out Of Control

It Made For A Terrifying Situation

While Francis Ford Coppola is known for ambitious productions, he was always a little over-ambitious when he wanted a scene to look realistic. During the scene in which the Greasers rescue kindergarten students from a fire in an abandoned country church, the filming took a turn for the worse. He asked the technicians to add more fire to the church scene.

The staging of the location went too far, sending a barrage of flames to the church steeple. Luckily, the local fire department was there to intervene to put out the flames. Fortunately, it wasn’t needed since a miracle rainstorm had come about and put out the fire naturally.

11 S.E. Hinton Was The “Set Mom” During The Filming

The Author Took Care Of The Young Cast

While the author collaborated with director Francis Ford Coppola to bring her novel to the big screen, Susan Hinton was also concerned for the young actors on the set. In an interview with Willamette Week, Hinton said that she acted as a mother to the up-and-coming stars a lot during production:

“Tommy was 15. Rob had his 18th during the movie. Matt had just turned 18. I immediately made myself their mom. Rob called me Mom half the time. I had their backs, I was looking out for them.”

With such a young cast, Hinton's selfless attempts to look out for the actors is heartwarming and likely ended up being essential for ensuring a smooth production.

12 Ralph Macchio Lived On Five Dollars A Day

A True Case Of Method Acting

After Ralph Macchio had gotten the role in the film, Coppola had him living on five dollars a day so he could further understand the character he was going to portray in the film (via Variety). Johnny’s lifestyle in the film was nowhere near glamorous: his parents fought all the time, and being on the southern side of town, his family was not rich.

To get the full experience of a poor kid in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Macchio had to sleep in parks, using newspapers as blankets. Though Macchio noted that the process was not comfortable, it was indeed a great acting exercise.

13 Coppola Asked Matt Dillion To Spend A Night In Jail

The Actor Refused To Got The Method Route

While actors like Daniel Day-Lewis are known for their intense commitment to their roles, some actors prefer to let their acting skills guide them and avoid any unnecessary risks when getting into character. Coppola continued to try and push his cast of The Outsiders to experience a bit of what life was like for these characters. This included encouraging Matt Dillon to spend a night in jail to better connect to Dally. While Coppola was able to get Macchio on board with his extreme tactics, Dillion reportedly bluntly refused the request (via Rolling Stone).

14 Coppola Made The Cast Do Tai-Chi

It Was Part Of Their Character Work

Along with the more intense character work the director had in mind, Coppola had the whole cast do Tai Chi during rehearsal. Lowe recalled the memory in his memoir, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, that he didn’t even know what Tai Chi was at the time until Coppola introduced the exercise to them before their first rehearsal. The suggestion also made Lowe think about the early moment in Coppola's Apocalypse Now where Martin Sheen's Willard also does Tai Chi:

“As the exercises drag on, I think: Martin’s character was in Saigon; my character is in Tulsa. How does a 60s greaser know or care about Tai Chi? But if the world’s greatest living director thinks we should stand on our heads to prepare, we should probably do it.”

15 Patrick Swayze Was Over 30 During Filming

That's A Lot Older Than They Should've Been

Surprisingly both actors were not teens when they got accepted for the roles of Darrell Curtis and Johnny Cade.

During the audition process, many actors came and went, but Patrick Swayze and Ralph Macchio made quite the impression on Coppola and Fred Roos. Surprisingly both actors were not teens when they got accepted for the roles of Darrell Curtis and Johnny Cade. Patrick Swayze and Ralph Macchio were adults when playing their leading roles in the film, the rest were in their mid-late teens. Swayze was 31 years old and Macchio was 21 years old, making them much older than 16-year-old C. Thomas Howell.

16 Hinton Refused Many Other Offers To Adapt Her Book

Yet She Formed A Bond With Coppola

According to Digital Exhibits, Susan Hinton had previously turned down many offers from other movie studios, believing that a movie production of the book couldn’t do her work justice. After talks with Coppola and Hinton took place, the two set on a deal to work on the film together, with her serving as a consultant to keep the movie as true to the film as possible.

Hinton agreed to work with Coppola due to the production company's treatment of The Black Stallion adaptation. Coppola’s undivided attention to Hinton’s raw vision of class rivalry and 1950s culture, it proved to be an ideal collaboration.

17 Socs Were Given Better Treatment By The Crew

Coppola Believed This Would Help The Actors & The Movie

Rob Lowe recalled in his memoir many of the competitive exercises that set the Greasers far apart from the Socs. This included fun events such as flag football games as well as more alienating attempts to highlight the class divide between the two groups.

One way the crew managed this was by giving the Greasers tethered three-ring binders with the scripts inside them while the Socs received leather-bound volumes of the script. Socs also received nicer hotel accommodations. Coppola was always finding ways to make them better actors in the most unconventional of ways.

18 A Football Game Was Organized To "Toughen Up" The Greaser Actors

More Character Work Efforts From The Director

While the friendly football game with the Soc actors was meant to infuse that rivalry, Coppola had another game in mind for getting the Greasers in proper tough-guy mode. Rob Lowe recounts (via Vanity Fair) that there was a tackle football game on asphalt against local "toughs" organized to make the young actors embrace the brutal Greaser life. Lowe remembers that it was 13-year-old C. Thomas Howell who approached the game from a practical point suggesting that if they get hurt seriously, they'll be replaced in the movie. As such, the actors boycotted the game.

19 Coppola Filmed The Outsiders And Rumble Fish Back-To-Back

The Two Movies Were A Shift To Stories Of Youth For The Filmmaker

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After the astonishing success of The Godfather movies and Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola switched gears and made The Outsiders and Rumble Fish back to back (via The Guardian). He shot them within weeks of each other, using many of the same locations from The Outsiders in Oklahoma. Coppola even used the same art director, Dean Tavoularis. This change of pace for Coppola represented the treasured youth whether it be the romanticized image of lost youth seen in Rumble Fish, or the beautiful tribute to old-school 1950s youth in The Outsiders.

Even though both films were made back-to-back, each one is different in its approach to Hinton's novels. They have over time become timeless classics tales of youth that have been major influences in the film industry.