by SARAH ROWLAND | More Fantasia Festival: Mind Game, Week One » The Dark Hours

“The toughest decision was getting rid of Dennis Hopper”—not words you hear every day, especially when they’re coming from a virtually unknown indie-director based out of a tiny Midwestern town. But for filmmaker Steve Balderson, firing the Easy Rider icon was very much a reality. And that’s just one of the many unexpected dilemmas he faced during the making of Firecracker, a film that can best be described as the cornbread-fed lovechild of David Lynch and Gus Van Sant.

“Even though, at the time, I felt I would be losing everything if I let Hopper go, I knew that if he would have been in the movie—along with the other people that were slated to be in it at the same time [Sally Kirkland, Deborah Harry and James Russo]—it would have been very different from my original vision,” says Balderson. “I just had to say to myself, ‘Okay, I’m going to make it like I’ve always pictured it.’”

With the exception of Harry, who pulled out, he canned the whole lot of them and cast Karen Black and Mike Patton (singer of Faith No More) instead. Both actors play two roles. And how did the others take being replaced by a washed-up musician and an underrated actress leftover from the ’70s?

“I think Sally was crushed,” he says. “But I don’t think Hopper lost any sleep over it. I haven’t spoken to most of these people since. I just sent out a group letter explaining my decision. Deborah’s been really supportive about the whole thing and James Russo has been too. He actually gave me a call right after Karen won best actress at the Fantasporto festival, which was really funny timing. And I said, ‘Hey, I thought I was on your shit list.’ And he said, ‘You can’t have one of those in this business or you’d run out of paper.’”

Produced by his dad Clark and shot entirely in Wamego, Kansas (population: 3, 708), Balderson’s finished product is the strangely beautiful fictional retelling of David White’s murder. David was an abusive alcoholic who tormented his family including his 18-year-old brother Jimmy (Jak Kendall), who got life in prison for killing David over 50 years ago. However, the film more than alludes to a cover-up. And the real Jimmy, who has since been released, is the only person alive who knows the whole story. Yet, Balderson chose not to interview Jimmy during his seven years of research. Jimmy had other ideas.

“About a month before we started shooting, we got a call from him,” recalls Balderson. “From that moment on, he became our friend. He’s a really great person—even though he’s had such a shitty life.”

The convicted murderer has also turned out to be a really great source for material.

“He told me about how one of the men who was responsible for the Clutter killings from In Cold Blood was in the cell next to him and that he knew plenty more like him for me to make even more movies about.”

Producer Clark Balderson will present Firecracker at Hall Theatre Tuesday, July 12, 5:30 p.m.

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