“The Bikeriders,” a movie partially filmed in Cincinnati, is hitting theaters this month.
The Jeff Nichols-directed film, which tells the story of a 1960s Midwestern motorcycle club called the Vandals, debuts on the silver screen Friday, June 21. Nichols, known for his films “Loving,” “Take Shelter” and “Mud,” co-wrote the script with photographer/filmmaker Danny Lyon, whose photo book of the same title inspired the film.
The Enquirer sat down with Nichols to discuss “The Bikeriders” and his experience filming in the Queen City. Here are a few highlights from the Q&A.
More “Bikeriders”:Austin Butler talks ‘delicious’ Skyline Chili, riding go-carts while filming in Cincy
These excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.
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Director Jeff Nichols talks ‘The Bikeriders’ and filming in Cincinnati
Q: Can you tell me more about the inspiration behind “The Bikeriders”?
Nichols: This film was inspired by a book by Danny Lyon. It came out in the late ’60s. He rode with a club in Chicago called the Chicago Outlaws in 1965. He photographed that club and interviewed riders of that club, in particular the wife of a rider.
I realized pretty quickly what Danny had done, which was to catch the full breadth of a subculture. The photographs are romantic and beautiful, but then you get these interviews, which are unvarnished, sometimes cruel, sometimes hilarious. You start to get an understanding of how these people’s brains worked. Why they didn’t feel like they belonged in the mainstream, why they felt like they needed to move to the outside and the effect that had on them. I fell in love with that idea. It’s not so much that I’m obsessed with motorcycle culture or biker culture. I was obsessed with these people and and how they saw the world.
Q: I read that you’ve wanted to make this film for over 20 years but were a bit terrified of adapting the story. Why is that?
Nichols: The most pragmatic reason to be terrified is that the Chicago Outlaws are now the Outlaws, which is the second-largest motorcycle gang in the world. They exist and, as far as I know, are pretty intimidating. So there was that hurdle to try to figure out, “How do I not step on their toes? How do I fictionalize this enough to have the freedom to do what I want to do,” which is to bring out the feeling I got when I looked at Danny’s book?
But it’s honestly a little bit more personal than that. I grew up in Arkansas. I grew up in the South. I didn’t grow up around motorcycle culture. This world was very foreign to me. I didn’t feel comfortable in it. I didn’t feel comfortable in the voice and the accent or in the behavior. All of those things were represented in Danny’s book. I had the tools necessary to build this thing as given to me by Danny Lyon, but it took a while to get the courage to actually use them.
Q: What led you to cast Austin Butler in the role of Benny?
Nichols: My producing partner, Brian Kavanaugh Jones, called and said, “Hey, I got a call from Austin Butler’s agent.” I was like, “Austin Butler, wasn’t he in ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood?'” … Then I met Austin. He read the script. I met him in LA, and he walked up and shook my hand. He didn’t look like Elvis. He didn’t look like the guy from “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood?” He looked like Benny.
He’s a beautiful being. But beyond that, he has that thing. He’s a movie star. He was absolutely captivating. You want to be around him. … It was an easy thing to say yes to. I cast him on the spot.
Q: So was this your first time filming in Cincinnati?
Nichols: Not my first time in Ohio. We actually made “Take Shelter” outside of Cleveland. But Cincinnati? Yes. I hadn’t spent any time there. So when we came to scout it for the first time and met the great people from the organization Film Cincinnati … we just fell in love with the place.
The architecture, the Midwest feel, also the people, they were really appreciative to have us there. They were excited to have us there, and that’s infectious. That helps the crew, that helps the cast, that helps me, and it worked for the movie. You know, I’d love to say, “It’s Cincinnati or nothing for me for the rest of my life,” but the truth is it worked for the movie. It worked for the story. I hope to find another story that works for Cincinnati because I sure did like being there.
Q: How long did you spend in Cincinnati filming this project?
Nichols: I got there for pre-production around the end of June of 2022, and I left one day after my birthday, so Dec. 8.
Q: That’s quite a while. Did you get to explore the Cincinnati area at all?
Nichols: We rented a place in Over-the-Rhine, and I loved that area. … It was fantastic. We had some great times. We went to a midnight screening of “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Jodie (Comer) and I did. That was a blast. We went over into Kentucky for a regional wrestling match. That was one of my favorite nights on the shoot. There’s just a lot going on around there. There’s a lot of culture in that town. That’s the great thing about being a filmmaker, you get to be in a place just long enough to not feel like a tourist. I certainly felt that way about Cincinnati.
Q: Did you try Skyline Chili?
Nichols: I made a very conscious choice not to try Skyline, because I love chili and I love spaghetti. I didn’t need to combine those two.
Q: What do you hope audiences take away from “The Bikeriders”?
Nichols: The best word that comes to mind is “nostalgia.” What that means to me is that there was a very specific time, a very specific place, a very specific group of people that, for a brief moment in time, did something unique. Now it’s gone. We won’t ever get to go back there except for this movie. I want people to walk away with that feeling. It’s kind of sad. It’s a little wistful, but it also has joy in it. … I hope that’s what people feel when they watch it.
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