It was 2003, and out of the blue, Owen Wilson cameoed on a skateboarding video and casually pulled off a backslide bluntslide trick. People were definitely baffled about two things: First, why was he in a skate video? Second, did he really just do that?
Well, let us take you back to that time which was almost a decade ago.
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January 2003. Neversoft just released their Tony Hawk Pro Skate 4, a skateboarding video game offering more fun and tricks compared to its last three installments. The game earned critical acclaim, receiving numerous compliments from Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameSpot. A few months later, Grind, an American comedy film about four aspiring amateur skaters trying to make it into the pro world by pulling insane stunts, came out.
Skateboarding was at its peak.
Then skateboard company Girl released a video titled “Yeah Right!” directed by co-founder and filmmaker Spike Jonze. The video featured a list of skating talents of Girl riders like Brian Anderson, Mike Carroll, Tony Ferguson, Rick Howard, Eric Koston, Rick McCrank, Paul Rodriguez, Jeron Wilson, Brandon Biebel, Robbie McKinley, Jereme Rogers, and more. It was also packed with cameos and special appearances, just like Owen Wilson, who appeared at the 32-minute mark and astonished viewers with his skill.
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On Episode 78 of The Nine Club With Chris Roberts, Spike Jonze revealed that it was Mike Carroll’s idea to get Owen Wilson. According to Jonze, Mike had met Wilson before and thought it was good to get him for the video. And so, Jonze and co-director Ty Evans reached out to Wilson and emailed him the script. Wilson responded by saying that he didn’t understand all the skate lingo, and it felt like Shakespeare to him. But he still nailed it.
Well, he nailed the script. But the backslide bluntslide trick? Nope, that wasn’t him.
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In the DVD extras that were released, a slideshow showed Erik Koston wearing a blonde wig just like Wilson’s hair. And this was the real trick: When the camera panned to Rick Howard, Jonze did the old switcheroo and replaced Wilson with Koston. Then when the trick was finished, the camera moved back again, revealing Owen Wilson.
Even if Owen Wilson didn’t really do the skateboarding trick, it was still a lot of fun for the viewers. You can watch his cameo in the video below.