Kiefer Sutherland Regrets His Lost Boys Hairstyle

Kiefer Sutherland looks back on developing the look of his villain in The Lost Boys, revealing he regrets the hairstyle he helped popularize. Sutherland starred in the vampire dark comedy as David Powers, the leader of a gang of vampires living in the fictional Californian town of Santa Carla. The Lost Boys revolves around brothers Michael and Sam as they move to Santa Carla with their recently divorced mom and find themselves drawn into the world of the vampires feeding on the town.

Alongside Sutherland, the cast for The Lost Boys included Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Billy Wirth, Brooke McCarter, Alex Winter, Jamison Newlander and Barnard Hughes. Directed by Joel Schumacher, the film received largely positive reviews upon release for its blend of horror and comedy, stylish direction and the performances from its up-and-coming stars. The Lost Boys also proved to be a modest box office success, grossing over $32.2 million against its $8.5 million budget, and though it continues to be a fan-favorite, one star wishes something would have been a little different with the movie.

As the film nears its 35th anniversary, Kiefer Sutherland is looking back on the fan-favorite vampire movie The Lost Boys with GQ. The actor recalled developing the specific look of his villain for the film with director Joel Schumacher, including a Billy Idol-inspired hairstyle, which he regrets helping popularize as his turned out to be more of a mullet than the English punk rocker. Check out Sutherland's funny story below:

"David is a character who is, at least on paper, supposed to be cool and sexy and has a girlfriend. Developing that character was a very funny kind of moment, because so much of it was created from a physical point. The look had to be right, the clothes had to be right, the hairstyle had to be right and Joel Schumacher, the director, was very in touch with rock and roll and music and wanted that to be an aspect of this film and wanted it to have that kind of look.

So I think all of us, on some level, started to try and live out whatever kind of rock and roll fantasy we might have. Joel Schumacher wanted me to have white hair and I had very long hair at the time and wanted me to keep it. I looked like a bad wrestler, I looked like a moron, it was awful. [Laughs] I thought Billy Idol was really cool and looked really cool and I still think he looks really cool. His hair was all spiky and kind of punk up top, so I got that haircut and left enough in the back so I could tell Joel Schumacher I left it long and I think kind of accidentally might have been part of a movement that created one of the worst hairstyles of all time, the mullet. [Laughs]”

Though Schumacher started his career in the film industry as a costume and production designer on a handful of projects, he would eventually make his way to helming music videos shortly after The Lost Boys with such hits as INXS' "Devil Inside" and Seal's "Kiss from a Rose," which was included in Schumacher's Batman Forever soundtrack. As Sutherland indicates, Schumacher had a taste for the field of music that permeated through The Lost Boys, including the frequently memed opening scene of Tim Cappello enthusiastically playing his saxophone. The vampire thriller also marked the start of Schumacher and Sutherland's frequent collaborations, following it up with the psychological horror movie Flatliners, the adaptation of John Grisham's A Time to Kill and the Colin Farrell-led Phone Booth.

Sutherland's The Lost Boys hairstyle may not have lived up to his expectations, but his portrayal as the villainous vampire David was critically acclaimed and has since been cited as a major influence on the vampire genre in general, bringing a more youthful touch to the iconic horror monsters. The film itself has gone on to be cited in a variety of other similar genre efforts, including What We Do in the Shadows which poked fun at the scene in which David convinces Michael he's eating worms. The Lost Boys' success also helped launch a franchise with two direct-to-video sequels and an in-development new film starring A Quiet Place's Noah Jupe and IT's Jaeden Martell.

More: The Lost Boys Movie News Suggests The CW Series May Be Dead

Source: GQ