Movies - TV
Eddie Van Halen Was Offered A Role In All Three Bill & Ted Movies
By LEE ADAMS
Released almost 30 years after “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey,” “Bill & Ted Face the Music” and its titular heroes were oddly comforting during the pandemic lockdown. Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves seemed to effortlessly slip back into their roles as the same Wyld Stallyns who once rocked out in their garage and dreamed of jamming with Eddie Van Halen.
While Bill and Ted have many rock influences from their period, Van Halen was the true inspiration for the duo and their air guitar poses. Winter explained, “The image that Eddie had runs through all of our movies. Bill and Ted are supposed to be into hard rock. But were these sunny, optimistic California guys. And that’s really embodied by Eddie Van Halen.”
The rockstar was so integral to the franchise’s vibe that he was offered roles in each movie, including that of Rufus. Winter shared, “We tried to get Van Halen into each one of the movies. [...] He was a famously private person and he wasn’t, you know, the front man. He was extremely charismatic and he was always very genteel, but he always turned us down.”