Welcome to WILLIAM SADLER ONLINE @ williamsadler.org a website dedicated to American actor William Sadler. Best known for his various roles in differing projects, William has played everything from an anarchist military man in DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER to a fireman seeking gold in TRESPASS, to a convict in THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, a soldier for God in TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT, and a member of a secret organization inside The Federation in DEEP SPACE NINE. But his most 'infamous' role has been as the Grim Reaper/Death in BILL & TED'S BOGUS JOURNEY, AND BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC. William has many other film credits to his name including THE MIST, THE HOT SPOT, RUSH, THE GREEN MILE, KINSEY and many more. William has also become a staple in episodic television including as Sheriff Jim Valenti in the CW's ROSWELL and in HOMELAND, POWER, BERLIN STATION, THE COMEY RULE and lends his voice to the Comedy channel's OUR CARTOON PRESIDENT. William also has an extensive career on the stage in such productions as JULIUS CAESAR, 24 HOUR PLAYS, EXIT THE KING and many more. This site is dedicated to giving you the most up-to-date information on William's career. Do not expect candids to be posted as this site supports William's wishes for privacy. To read what will or won't be posted, feel free to read this site's Candids policy.
I just found this while doing a search on Youtube on Bill. Bill was interviewed Monsters, Madness and Magic. Here he discussed his early work in theatre as a young actor and his various projects on Broadway. He also discussed his most successful roles including DEMON KNIGHT, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE GREEN MILE, TRESPASS, BILL & TED’S BOGUS JOURNEY, BILL AND TED FACE THE MUSIC, DIE HARD 2, and THE MIST. I love when Bill talks about his stage work and his theatre days. He’s so humble and sweet. I’m sorry I haven’t been posting much, but I’m currently working on research for the novel I’m writing. I’m currently wading hip-deep in Russian history, The Vietnam War, and spaces in between
The website JoBlo has named its ten best streaming Christmas movies. And DIE HARD 2 was among them with honourable mention given to a certain nude Tai Chi lovin’ psychopathic killer we all know and love. Hint: Check this site’s subject. One of the clips they show is from the scene where John McLane (Bruce Willis) is in the cockpit of the plane Bill’s character Col. Stuart is shooting up into. Later McLane ejects the seat saving himself. I keep remembering a funny story Bill tells of filming that scene and making the sound of the machine gun, the sound mixer on the project, Tim Cooney, having to come and tell Bill he didn’t need to make the sounds. That’s what he was for.
3. Yes, Virginia, these ARE good sequels!: Die Hard 2 (1990), Bad Santa 2 (2016)
Christmas movie sequels don’t come around too often, let alone Christmas sequels that are actually good! Yet, some do exist and, for this list, I have TWO… Yes, Die Hard IS a Christmas movie, but what some may not quite comprehend is that its sequel is ALSO a Christmas movie… and surprisingly, a damn good one! You’d think John McClane fighting off terrorists a second time during Christmas would be asinine, yet somehow through Bruce Willis’s everyman charm and a wonderfully merciless main villain (played by William Sadler), the whole thing works! And… with Bad Santa 2, Billy Bob Thornton’s “Willie” picks up right where he left off, despite the thirteen-year gap between both films. All the dirty, potty-mouthed magic of the original is back with the new addition of the always-game Kathy Bates as Willie’s mama! Funny times!
Stream Die Hard 2 right now on HBO Max. Stream Bad Santa 2 right now on Amazon Prime.
There’s a story the great actor Harrison Ford tells of one of his first films called Dead Heat On a Merry-Go-Round from 1966, where he played the part of a bellboy. In his all but one minute of screen time he gave us a performance that rattled a studio executive so much, he had to vent his spleen on the actor. Harrison recounts it below:
“He called me into his office and said, ‘I want to tell you a story, kid.’ Kid, he always called me kid. He was about 15 minutes older that I was,” Ford began. “He said, ‘First time Tony Curtis was ever in a movie … he delivered a bag of groceries, a bag of groceries, kid. And you took one look at that guy, and you knew that was a movie star.'”
Ford fired back: “Well I thought that was supposed to be a delivery boy!”
The reason I recount this story is because like Harrison Ford, Bill Sadler has that everyman ability to play exactly what he’s been hired to play. In this case in this film Bill plays a car salesman named Don who tries to sell to film star Jim Belushi. Instead of playing something bigger Bill plays a car salesman. His ability to become whatever he’s asked is so fluid. Bill is a car salesman and not trying to be anything else in that moment but that. It proves what an actor Bill is because later that year he became The Grim Reaper/Death in BILL & TED’S BOGUS JOURNEY, then a few years later a terrorist in Col. Stuart in DIE HARD 2. That’s Bill Sadler. Whatever is asked of him, he brings it.
A few new scans from 1999 and 2000. Some are just on films Bill starred in, one is a long form interview I transcribed from the scans. In this interview Bill talks all about his genre films including DEMON KNIGHT, THE GREEN MILE, THE SHAWKSHANK REDEMPTION, BILL & TED’S BOGUS JOURNEY and mostly his role as Sheriff Jim Valenti on ROSWELL. I’ll link the transcribed version as well as the other scans uploaded.
I’ve added another set of scans to the gallery, in addition I’ve also typed out the article and added it to the press section. The reason is it’s a direct interview with Bill and I thought the text of it should be in the press section. You’ll find both at the links below. Enjoy.
