Stars including Boyd Holbrook and Toby Wallace discuss learning how to ride bikes for the acclaimed film.
Following its theatrical release last month, acclaimed film The Bikeriders is now available to rent and buy on digital download.
The movie is based on a ’60s photobook of the same name by Danny Lyons and boasts an all star cast that includes Austin Butler, Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy.
Many of those actors had to learn to ride motorcycles specifically for the job – and that learning process is the subject of a new behind-the-scenes clip exclusive to RadioTimes.com, which you can watch above.
“There’s nothing worse than when you look at a film and you’re like, ‘Aaah they’re not riding those motorcycles,’” director Jeff Nichols says at the beginning of the clip.
“We’ve worked with these actors and we’ve gotten them up…. riding these motorcycles.”
Meanwhile, producer Sarah Green explains that the prospect of having so many actors riding period-specific motorcycles was a “nail-biter” that came with some major health and safety hazards.
“One of the biggest things was the fact that they didn’t wear helmets in those days,” she reveals.
The clip also features several of the actors talking about their own experiences on set, with Toby Wallace explaining how he did a short course to get a learners permit, and Boyd Holbrook talking about exercises that involved slaloming through cones.
And some of the stars seemed to have gained a new hobby for life, with Damon Herriman explaining: “I’ve kind of got the bug a little bit. Even though I’m at an age where I shouldn’t be scared to tell my parents I want a motorbike… I’m a bit scared to tell my parents that maybe I want a motorbike!”
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The minute-long clip ends with Holbrook declaring: “I know personally from riding motorcycles that it is freedom, it’s the ultimate freedom”, before we see a clip from the film in which Austin Butler’s Benny rides on the open road while loudly whooping.
The official synopsis for the Bikeriders reads: “Over the course of a decade, a Midwestern motorcycle club evolves from a gathering place for local outsiders to a sinister gang, threatening the original group’s way of life.”
The Bikeriders is now available to rent or buy on digital download.