Posted in: Audio Dramas, Movies, Sony, TV | Tagged: Stand by Me, The Body

Stand By Me: Wheaton on Channeling Phoenix for "The Body" Audiobook

Stand By Me star Wil Wheaton reflects on revisiting the Rob Reiner film and late co-star River Phoenix during The Body audiobook narration.

Before Wil Wheaton landed his signature role as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, he landed his breakout role as Gordie Lechance in Stand By Me (1986), directed by the late Rob Reiner, which is based on Stephen King's novella, The Body, and adapted for the screen by Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans. The story follows four friends who embark on a journey to see the dead body of a missing boy. Wheaton would develop lifelong friendships with co-stars Corey Feldman (Teddy Duchamp), Jerry O'Connell (Vern Tessio), and the late River Phoenix (Chris Chambers), who passed in 1993 at the age of 23. As Wheaton expanded into other projects, he also embraced his role as a host and voiceover artist, narrating several audiobooks by Ernest Cline, Andy Weir, John Scalzi, and more. Speaking with The New York Times, the actor reflected on revisiting those film scenes in the original King work, trying to tap into Phoenix's performance in the process.

Stand By Me Star Wil Wheaton on Recapturing River Phoenix's Performance for the Audiobook Version of Stephen King's The Body

"There's this wonderful scene in Stand by Me. Gordie (Wheaton) and Chris (Phoenix) are walking down the tracks talking about junior high," Wheaton said, adding that the way the two communicated with each other was "honest and direct" as kids in a way adults do not. "Chris is telling Gordie, 'I wish to hell I was your dad, because I care about you, and he obviously doesn't.'"

Wheaton noted, poignantly, "That scene is virtually word-for-word taken from the text of the book. And when I was narrating that, I made a deliberate choice to do my best to recreate what River did in that scene," he said. "I watched that scene a couple of times because I really wanted — I don't know why it was so important to me to — well, I know: because I loved him, and I miss him. And I wanted to bring him into this as best as I could, right?"

The actor reflected on how accurately the scene from the book was during filming, "I had this very powerful flashback to being on the train tracks that day in Cottage Grove, Oregon," Wheaton said. "And I could see River standing next to them. They're shooting my side of the scene, and there's River, right next to the camera, doing his off-camera dialogue, and there's the sound guy, and there's the boom operator. There's my key light." The Body audiobook is currently out.

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