The Outsiders Star Who Was Always Pranked On The Set
When Francis Ford Coppola made "The Outsiders" in 1983, he was coming off an incredible hot streak, knocking out "The Conversation," "Apocalypse Now," and two "Godfathers" in a seven-year stretch. For his follow-up to the maximalist, neon-tinted "One From the Heart," the director pivoted towards stark and gritty with his look at the class struggles of Oklahoma youth.
For fans of Coppola's oeuvre, his twin S.E. Hinton adaptations "The Outsiders" and "Rumble Fish" are noir-inflected curios, but they're perhaps best remembered for their cast of up-and-coming stars. With the former's ensemble cast of young heartthrobs, Coppola anticipated the deluge of teen-centric films that would define the rest of the decade. Indeed, "The Outsiders" culled together the talents of Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez, and Tom Cruise, and also attracted other stars who didn't make it through Coppola's unusual audition process.
The "Outsiders" cast famously brought the teen spirit to the set, where they ruthlessly ribbed and pranked one another. "On 'The Outsiders,'" Rob Lowe wrote in his 2011 memoir, "ballbusting will become a fine art." Here's the "Outsiders" star who was frequently subjected to the cast's pranks.
Diane Lane was a frequent prank target
When the cast of "The Outsiders" decamped to Tulsa to begin filming, the Excelsior Hotel became a site for notorious pranking, usually at the hands of Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, and Tom Cruise. Diane Lane, who was 22 at the time of filming and played a Soc character opposite the guys' Greasers, was a frequent target.
"It was frightening to see and realize many violations of psyche and boundaries such as honey all over my toilet seat, something terrorizing written with my lipstick in the mirror, Vaseline on every door handle," the actress told Variety on the occasion of the film's 35th anniversary. "Just when you think it's safe and you can finally sleep that night, your bed is short-sheeted!"
For all the slick door knobs and mangled bed sheets that Lane endured, she admitted that the pranks unexpectedly brought her closer to her castmates. "I never had siblings or went to summer camp, so for me it was a bonding experience." Lane then joked, "Is that what they mean by trauma-bonding?"
Lane wasn't the only target in the "Outsiders" prank wars. C. Thomas Howell, who was only 15 at the time, got his fair share of hazing. "I remember one early morning ... I stumbled into my hotel room," recalled Howell, "and literally everything in my hotel room, from a penny to my bed, had been turned upside down."