Alex Winter, aka Bill S. Preston, Esq.
It’s been over a decade since he and Keanu Reeves braved the time-space continuum as half-baked slackers in the cult comedy "Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure" (1989) and its sequel, "Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey" (1991).
In that time, their characters’ mantra — "party on, dude!" — has become enshrined in the pop culture lexicon. And Winter, now 37, has never stopped being recognized by rabid fans as his movie alter ego, Bill. "To this day, no matter where I am in the world, it happens every day," he says.
Well, except once, on an autumn evening a few years ago, when he and Reeves met for a quiet dinner in New York City. Neither had paid much attention to the date, so when they walked out of the restaurant into a crowd of costumed people thronging the streets of lower Manhattan, they were thunderstruck. "We were like, ‘Oh, s–t! It’s Bill and Ted in the middle of the Halloween parade,’" remembers Winter, with a grin.
He and Reeves — whom Winter still calls one of his closest friends — waited for their cover to be blown. But then: "Nobody batted an eyelash. We just looked like two fat, older guys who were trying to be Bill and Ted," laughs Winter.
As an actor Alex spent many years on Broadway with supporting roles in productions of THE KING & I, PETER PAN, and the American premiere of Simon Gray’s CLOSE OF PLAY at the Manhattan Theater Club. After completing NYU film school, he went on to have starring roles in several feature films, including Orion’s huge hit BILL AND TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE and its sequel BILL AND TED’S BOGUS JOURNEY, the cult smash THE LOST BOYS and Percy Adlon’s ROSALIE GOES SHOPPING.
As a writer and director, Alex co-created and starred in the hit MTV series, THE IDIOT BOX, and the Twentieth Century Fox release FREAKED. Acclaimed by many critics including The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly who heralded Freaked on their "Top Ten greatest comedies of the Nineties." The film also stars Randy Quaid, Keanu Reeves, Brooke Shields, Bobcat Goldthwait as a human sock puppet and Mr. T as the Bearded Lady. Long an underground favorite, Freaked was released on DVD this year.
Subsequently, Alex wrote and directed FEVER, released by Lions Gate Films. FEVER is a psychological thriller starring Henry Thomas, Teri Hatcher, Bill Duke and THE DEPARTED’S David O’ Hara. The film has been invited to film festivals worldwide, including Official Selection in the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes. In The New York Times, A.O. Scott praised the film as "Pure Hitchcockian panic. An arresting example of what a talented filmmaker can do with the sparest of means."
Alex works between his American home base and London, where he has been very successful directing music videos and commercials. Highlights of his work include directing several installments of the popular Peugeot Thelma & Louise campaign, as well as campaigns for Ford, the global launch of the all CGI Tony the Tiger for Frosties, and award-winning spots for Supercuts and McDonalds in the US. Music videos include Red Hot Chili Peppers, Helmet, Bootsy Collins and Ice Cube.
Alex recently guest starred on the hit Fox series BONES. Currently, he is directing the live action BEN 10 MOVIE for Cartoon Network.
So that he wouldn’t catch me staring like an idiot, I pretended to be interested in the painting that hung above his table. (Granted, it was a nice painting, but you know.) My gaze drifted down at some point, and he happened to look at me at the same time. So our eyes met (yay, *silliness*). Oh, and when he asked the waiter what kind of sake had been brought, the waiter said, "Neo-sake." I almost spit out my drink, but Keanu seemed to be unfazed……
