SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 16, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — It was a little more than three decades back that a team of nine child actors, accompanied by a production and film crew, trekked to northern Utah to shoot a family film about baseball, adventures, facing fears and gaining confidence.
And 30 years after “The Sandlot”‘s 1993 debut, a few of those former kids, now men in their 40s, are returning to celebrate the film’s lasting power and its devoted fans.
Hollywood on Broadway is bringing in four cast members for a screening Saturday at Kingsbury Hall. After the film, the actors will participate in-person with an interactive discussion of the film, share behind the scenes anecdotes, and tell their personal insight of why it is still a great memory.
Those committed to attend are Tom Guiry, who played Scotty Smalls; Marty York, who played Yeah Yeah; Chauncey Leopardi, who played Squints; and Shane Obedzinksi, who played Repeat. The event starts at 7 p.m. Saturday. For ticket information, click here.
Our interview
But for those who can’t wait, Gephardt Daily was lucky enough to interview Guiry and York and ask a few of the questions we had. See some interview excerpts, below.
Gephardt Daily: Did you know at the time you were making a movie that people would still be talking about 30 years later?
GUIRY: “I knew it was gonna be a good movie, because I was 11 and I got the script and I read the whole thing, and it’s hard to keep an 11 year old’s attention…. So if it was good enough for me to read the whole thing at 11, it was probably a good movie. But I don’t think any of us had any idea how big it was gonna get.”
“It’s crazy to me that it’s had a following and it’s kept the following for as long as it has. I think it’s in part because the movie felt nostalgic even when it came out, set in the ’60s. And I think that caught the attention of a lot of adults that lived at that time. Were also the kids enjoying it in the early ’90s. And they grew up and they showed it to their kids. So it’s kind of generational, you know, and so I think that helps with keeping it alive.
“I think it really goes back to, you know, when America was the way people envisioned it…. That’s why people love it. They like to go back in time. And shooting a period piece was great fun.”
Gephardt Daily: “How did you get the roles?
GUIRY: “‘Sandlot’ was my sixth edition ever. They auditioned me twice in New York, then flew me out to LA to screen test, and then I didn’t get the role…. they hired another actor and it didn’t work out, and they flew me out again. And that’s what I got the role, but it took a lot of work. It wasn’t easy to get the role.”
YORK: “I originally auditioned for Bertram, another character in the film, and I got the part of Bertram after about two auditions. And then we went down to L.A here at the local baseball field. And they kind of lined all the guys up and they were like, ‘Well, you don’t really quite fit the role of Bertram.’ So my mom was ‘oh, that’s it. That’s the end of the road.’
“Then the director actually said ‘We have another role in mind for him.’ It was the character of Yeah Yeah, which at the time was a bigger role and they needed a kid with a ton of energy. So my mom drove me down a local liquor store and got me a big Hershey’s Kiss bars, and I ate the whole thing. One of those Giant Hershey’s Kisses because, you know, sugar was like crack for kids. And I ate the whole thing and I just went in the audition room with a ton of energy and brought the character of Yeah Yeah to life.”
Gephardt Daily: “When did you know you had been part of something big?”
GUIRY: “When I was walking in the mall, and my kids and I saw somebody wearing a shirt with my face on it. I thought ‘That’s weird.’ That’s probably when it first hit me.”
YORK: “I didn’t really see the strength of ‘The Sandlot.’ So the 25th anniversary, which was back in 2018, that’s when we did a tour of all the major league baseball stadiums in the United States. One of the stadiums we went to was Dodger Stadium and … they did something really special. They wanted us to go out on the field and take our original positions we played in ‘The Sandlot’ on the Dodger field…. And when we went out and we took our positions in the field, we got a standing ovation from like 60,000 people. And I just remember the first time I had seen a lot of these guys like the first time I’d seen Tom in 25 years, and just looking around seeing a standing ovation from the entire stadium. I was like, wow, a lot of people have seen this…. I never understood the gravity of it till, I think, that moment.”
Gephardt Daily: “Why do you think the film resonates with people?
GUIRY: “I think it’s because they could find something in each of the characters, the comradery we have, the friendships. I think a lot of people growing up have those kinds of friends or they had a friend like that. And especially with me, I was the new kid coming into town and I think a lot of people can relate to that.”
Gephardt Daily: Did you do your own stunts?
YORK: “I did my own like Jackie Chan, man. I did all my own stuff and the scene where I’m floating on the kid crane. If they actually did that nowadays it would be outlawed. They lifted a kid about 30 or 40 feet in the air. And I wasn’t even a harnessed, man. It was like it was like a catcher’s mitt thing and it was on ropes. I still have it. It’s a piece of fiberglass, literally shaped on my body, with catcher’s gear over it to hide the fiberglass, and that’s all that was holding me up in the air.
“And then we had a bunch of metal cables that the crew was pulling. And all it took was one crew member to like, let go of one of the cables and I would have been done. Like, I would have fallen on my death. Then the beast would have actually claimed one of us.”
Gephardt Daily: The filmmakers chose your character’s future stories in the film. You (Guiry) became a sportscaster and you (York) became a bungee jumper. Do you think they chose well?
GUIRY: I think it worked out for Smalls. I think it was a good choice.
YORK: In my ending, I joined the Army and I helped him but helped invent bungee jumping, so yeah. I think it would be cool if they did a show where they went off those endings.
GUIRY: I think it would be cool if they did a spinoff of bungee…. That would be awesome.
YORK: “‘The Yeah Yeah Chronicles.'”
GUIRY: “Yeah. YEAH YEAH!”
Gephardt Daily: “Do you enjoy talking with the fans?”
GUIRY: “We do memorabilia signings, which can be private, or speaking engagements. I like all of them. It’s especially fun when you have a whole bunch of the guys there and, you know, catch up and talk and go out to dinner.”
Gephardt daily: “Have you had any strange or memorable fan encounters?”
YORK: “I’ve been asked to sign weird things by fans. Like I’ve signed, you know, the front of cell phones like that people use like with a permanent marker. I’m like, ‘why would you do that? Like now you can’t use your phone correctly.’ And I’ve signed boobs.”
GUIRY: “I had one guy ask me ‘Are you Tiny? I didn’t know he was insulting me. And then I think he thinks that Small’s name was Tiny. I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, yeah.'”
YORK: “And someone called you Smells.”
GUIRY: “That’s me. Smells.”
Gephardt Daily: “What would you like people who attend the 30th anniversary event at Kingsbury Hall to get from the experience?”
GUIRY: “I’d like people to have a great time. I’d love for people to watch the movie again. It’s always great seeing the theater, especially that size, because Kingsbury Hall is a very big, big place…. And just people bringing their kids and passing it on to the next generation and having a great time with their families. And hopefully we can make people laugh and entertain people with our Q&A. And that’s what I’m hoping for.”
