How Kiefer Sutherland, River Phoenix, And A Guitar Inspired “Stand By Me” Title

Did you know that Kiefer Sutherland may have subconsciously inspired one of the most important aspects of the iconic “Stand By Me” film? Well, we’ve got the gist as told by Kiefer Sutherland himself.

Kiefer Sutherland Recalls Moment “Stand By Me” Director Was Inspired By “Stand By Me”

In a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday, the actor, 57, revealed an important moment in “Stand By Me’s” development.

Speaking on the behind-the-scenes of the classic coming-of-age movie, Sutherland shared an interesting memory.

“We were making Stand by Me, which was a Stephen King short story called The Body, and River Phoenix was learning guitar and playing guitar and he was actually very, very good,” Sutherland told host Jimmy Fallon.

“…And I was playing “Stand by Me” and singing that song, and he said, ‘Oh, I love the melody of that song,’ and he hadn’t heard it before,” he continued. “So I was teaching it to him and Rob Reiner [the film’s director] walked by and said, ‘Oh, I haven’t heard that song for a long time, I love it.’ And then that was the end of that discussion.”

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“And then Rob Reiner ended up using that song for the film and changing the title to Stand by Me,” added Sutherland.

Fallon, 49, then curiously asked him, “Do you think he changed…?”

“I have no idea,” Sutherland admitted, adding, “I just know it was part of that conversation.”

Sutherland portrayed bully Ace Merrill in the cult classic, alongside Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, and Will Wheaton, who were all teens at the time.

Seven years later, Phoenix died at the age of 23, but his talent was not lost on his co-star Sutherland, who would go on to praise him in his 2021 interview with The Guardian.

He said: “I worked with the main cast very little but when I’d get there early, they would be workshopping scenes and trying out each other’s lines. River specifically had such an appetite to learn and be good — and, of course, he was.”

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