by Randy Willis
Johnny Rodriguez and I drove from San Marcos to Dallas so he could read for the part of Pete Calder in Hi-Lo Country, the 1998 film directed by Stephen Frears. Martin Scorsese, one of the producers, was a huge music fan.
After Johnny read for the part, Frears said he was incredible.
I asked Johnny, “Did you notice how beautiful the girl in the lobby was?”
“The secretary?” he asked.
“She’s no secretary.”
WOW! If I were you, I would pay to be in this movie. She’s your love interest in the film. I had read the script.
She plays the part of down-to-earth Josepha, who yearns for Pete, who’s you in the film.
She’s an unknown Spanish actress from near Madrid, Spain, named Penélope Cruz! She is playing a Mexican girl named Josepha O’Neil.
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On the way home, we drove by the site of JFK’s assassination. Johnny had never seen it, but said as we approached the site, “There’s the grassy knoll.” It was an emotional moment for both of us. We both recalled what we were doing the exact moment we first heard the tragic news.
I said, as I drove, “I’ve been wanting to ask you for years why your birth certificate says you were born on December 11th and not December 10th.
“I don’t know, I suppose it was because I was a poor Mexican and was not important enough for the doctor to get it right,” Johnny said.
“I doubt it was that John. What time were you born?”
“Late,” he replied.
“Where was the doctor from?”
“Uvalde.”
“Now, let me get this straight, John: a doctor from a small town drives over 20 miles late at night to do a house call in Sabinal, who has no doctor. He probably was worn out since he had started work at sunrise.
“He then had to drive 22 miles back to Uvalde. I doubt he had an assistant in Uvalde in 1951 and did not record your birth until several days, if not weeks, later. He makes a clerical error. I doubt that was a race issue. He could have said no in the first place.”
“Damn, Colonel, I never thought of that. And we probably never paid him either; we were so poor. Thanks for telling me that, that’s bothered me all my life.”
We enjoyed the ride back to San Marcos until I inserted a Louis L’Amour audio cassette of one of his Western novels into my cassette player. We both were spellbound when the tape ended just as it reached the whodunit moment.
“Put in the next tape!” Johnny said.
“I forgot to bring it, Boy Wonder.”
“Damn, Colonel, it was almost a perfect day.”
Soon, I got a call. Johnny got the part. We signed the contract. I still have it. About the movie.
Pete Calder sets out one morning, reflecting on his intention to kill someone. As he drives, he thinks back on what led him to this point.
Cowboy pals Pete Calder (Billy Crudup) and Big Boy Matson (Woody Harrelson) come back to the range after fighting in World War II. Pete hopes to return to the simplicity of cattle-herding, but wealthy local rancher Jim Ed Love (Sam Elliott) warns him that the ways of the Old West have vanished.
Big Boy boozes, brawls, bets, and wins the affections of the town’s married temptress, Mona (Patricia Arquette). Down-to-earth Josepha (Penélope Cruz) yearns for Pete, but he wants what Big Boy has.
Cole Hauser of Yellowstone fame today played the character “Little Boy Matson.” His character is the younger, somewhat insecure brother of “Big Boy Matson” (played by Woody Harrelson).
Johnny’s friends also had cameos in the movie.
Those included musician Rose Maddox as Big Boy’s Grandmother, Leon Rausch of The Texas Playboys, Connie Smith, Marty Stuart, and Don Walser as the band.
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August 29, 1998, marked the end of Johnny’s part in the movie.
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