C. Thomas Howell. Who's he? Exactly.

By Leslie Gray Streeter

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Saturday, September 24, 2005

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As acting careers go, C. Thomas Howell has had a long but, frankly, odd one.

To many movie fans, mostly in their 30s and 40s, he was a favorite glossy pin-up from 16 Magazine, or a familiar face in movies iconic (E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial) and cult-popular (Red Dawn, Soul Man, The Hitcher).

Then, there was his one genuinely generationally defining movie, Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 film version of S.E. Hinton's beloved novel The Outsiders, where he starred alongside future huge stars Diane Lane, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon and some guy named Tom Cruise.

Next to that crowd, Howell admits that many people "don't know who the hell I am."

But that's OK with the 38-year-old actor, who revisits his role as sensitive 1950s orphan Ponyboy Curtis with the release this week of The Outsiders: The Complete Novel, Coppola's new DVD cut of the film that restores 22 minutes and a new score. In addition, Howell and some of the stars get together to record a commentary track for the DVD.

In an interview, the charmingly frank Howell chatted about the weirdness and blessings of a long career, early fame, his old pal Cruise, the weird things people yell at him and why, sometimes, it's just better to hush up and listen to your wife.

Question: Before we talk about the new Outsiders DVD, what's this I hear about you being on ER?

Q: Why in the world wouldn't you want to do ER?

CT: Last Friday, I'd spent the day screen-testing for something I didn't get, and really wanted. Obviously, I've done this a dozen times in my acting career. You go through peaks and valleys, and you don't always get what you want. It took me a couple of days to get over. I just wasn't in the mood (to meet the ER people), so I when I got the call, I politely declined. I went out to get ice cream with my son, and my wife intercepted another call from them and said, "He'll be there."

Q: Is it fair to say that to some people, you'll always be Ponyboy from The Outsiders?

CT: I still get mail every week from seventh- and eighth-graders. It's amazing how timeless it is. Kids don't care about academics in school - they're still struggling with how cool they are, are they liked, do they have the right shoes... I guess it was highly unusual to have this group that basically came together as a bunch of nobodies. If you look at the cover of the DVD box, all of those people are still in the business, either in front of or behind the camera. You'd expect that half would have quit and opened a restaurant, and the other half would be in rehab. But all of those guys are solid, hard-working guys.

Q: What's your favorite scene that's been restored?

CT: There's a scene with Rob, who plays my brother Sodapop, and I lying next to each other in bed, discussing their lives, and I thought "How many times do you see a scene between two boys in bed, that isn't gay?" Basically, all of the new footage is based around developing the Curtis brothers and the love they have for each other. It's so much better with that back in, because you're more aware of the risks of what they could lose if they're ripped apart. You're rooting for them.

Q: Is that the first time you'd been in a room with all those people in 22 years?

CT: Minus another 5,000 people, like at the Emmys? Yes. I've seen different people (from time to time). There's an immediate comfort level with those guys, where you go right back to 22 years ago. Of course, dealing with Tom Cruise, you've got 20 bodyguards around the guy if you wanna see him.

Q: Tom Cruise. You never hear about him, huh?

CT: He's gotten a bad rap with the Scientology, although jumping up and down on Oprah's couch didn't seem to help him. He's a really good-natured guy, but he's his own worst enemy. He's really a perfectionist.... At a very young age, even in small parts, he took responsibility for everything around him. He was gonna be a star. You could tell. But as an actor, you're a very small instrument in a huge orchestra. You can't be the whole orchestra.

Q: Was it weird re-watching the movie?

CT: It was my first (big) movie, really, and there's a lot of pain that goes with that, seeing (myself) as a young actor with literally very little skill, trying hard. It's hard to view myself struggling in some scenes. Ultimately, I had to set that aside and enjoy it for the sake of the work. I know that Rob had some beautiful scenes that were missing for years and years. He thought that he was cut out because he was bad. But he's said that he feels validated now. I think Diane (Lane) was the first one (on the commentary track) to say, "Oh, he's so good." It made me fall in love with her all over again.

Q: Her career's gone sky-high, huh?

CT: Here she was, recording that with us, the day after Oscar night, when she had been nominated. She didn't win, but it didn't matter. She still came out and hung out with us. We expected Tom not to come, because he's Tom Cruise, and he gets an automatic hall pass. But Diane came. No disrespect to Tom Cruise, because I really love the guy. But this was so important to her, this work she'd done as a 16-year-old girl, and I was blown away.

Q: So you really don't mind being the guy from The Outsiders?

CT: The weird, weird thing, that I enjoy or suffer from the most, is that I've done so many things. I might get a "Stay gold, Ponyboy!" from across a room, or guys yell "Wolverines!" (the war cry from Red Dawn). I did a couple of Civil War things, so in Virginia, they yell Civil War stuff at me. I'll get some stoned guy who saw me in Far Out, Man, a horrible movie I did with Tommy Chong, and this guy loves it. I'm amazed at how I come into people's lives, and what they hold onto. I guess I can see how you'd wanna take a hostage if someone yells the same thing at you over and over.

Q: You seem pretty OK with how things have worked out.