‘October Sky’ – Interview: – Movies To History.com

‘October Sky’ – Interview:

24 October, 2023 Siobhan Marie Day 0 Comments 2 categories

Directed by Joe Johnston, Screenplay by Lewis Colick, Based on "October Sky" by Homer Hickam, Produced by Charles Gordon, and Larry J. Franco, Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Chris Owen, Laura Dern, with Cinematography by Fred Murphy, and Edited by Robert Dalva, with Music by Mark Isham, and Distributed by Universal Pictures (1999)

Leading with October…

October Sky is based on the lives of four young men who grew up in Coalwood, West Virginia. Principal photography occured in rural East Tennessee, including Oliver Springs, Harriman, and Kingston in Morgan and Roane counties. The film was a moderate box office success and received very positive critical reception; it continues to be celebrated in the regions of its setting and filming.

(MR) William Lee Scott, (ML) Jake Gyllenhaal, (R) Chad Lindberg, and (L) Chris Owen in "October Sky" (1999) Photo Credit: Google Images

Coalwood is an unincorporated coal town in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States. The coal mine in Coalwood reached its peak in the 1950s and ceased production on October 1, 1986. As of the 1990 census—the last time the town was counted separately—the population was 900. The town is the setting of Homer Hickam's best-selling 1998 memoir Rocket Boys, as well as its 1999 film adaptation, "October Sky." Photo Credit: Google Images

Oliver Springs is a town in Anderson, Morgan, and Roane counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Its population was 3,231 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Harriman, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Roane County. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

Harriman is a city located primarily in Roane County, Tennessee, with a small extension into Morgan County. The population of Harriman was 5,892 at the time of the 2020 census. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Roane County, Tennessee, United States. This city is thirty-six miles southwest of Knoxville. It had a population of 5,934 at the 2010 United States census, and is included in the Harriman, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area. Kingston is adjacent to Watts Bar Lake. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

(RM) William Lee Scott, (C) Jake Gyllenhaal, (R) Chad Lindberg, and (L) Chris Owen in "October Sky" (1999) Photo Credit: Google Images

It is a 1999 biographical drama film directed by Joe Johnston, and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Chris Owen and Laura Dern. The screenplay by Lewis Colick, based on the memoir of the same name, tells the true story of Homer H. Hickam Jr., a coal miner‘s son who was inspired by the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 to take up rocketry against his father’s wishes and eventually became a NASA engineer.

Joe Johnston directing "October Sky" (1999) in Coalwood, West Virginia. Photo Credit: Universal Pictures Joe Johnston (born c. 1950) is an American film director, producer, writer, and visual effects artist. He is best known for directing effects-driven films, including Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989); The Rocketeer (1991); Jumanji (1995); Jurassic Park III (2001); The Wolfman (2010); and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).

Jake Gyllenhaal as Homer Hickam Jr. in "October Sky" (1999) Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Chris Cooper as Homer Hickam Jr. in "October Sky" (1999) Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Chris Owen as Quentin Wilson in "October Sky" (1999) Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Laura Dern as Miss Freida J. Riley in "October Sky" (1999) Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Lewis Colick is an American screenwriter born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Baruch College in New York and got his MFA in Theatre Arts from the UCLA Film School. Photo Credit: IMDB

October Sky is the first memoir in a series of four, by American engineer Homer Hickam Jr. originally published in 1998 as Rocket Boys. Later editions were published under the title October Sky as a tie-in to the 1999 film adaptation. It is a story of growing up in a mining town, and a boy's pursuit of amateur rocketry in a coal mining town. The book won the W.D. Weatherford Award in 1998, the year of its release. Today, it is one of the most often picked community/library reads in the United States. It is also studied in many school systems around the world. October Sky was followed by The Coalwood Way (2000), Sky of Stone (2002), and Carrying Albert Home (2015). Rocket Boys was made into a film in 1999, titled October Sky (an anagram of "Rocket Boys"). The book was then re-published as October Sky shortly afterwards. Photo Credit: Google Images

Homer H. Hickam Jr. is the second son of Homer Sr. and Elsie Gardener Hickam (née Lavender). He was born and raised in Coalwood, West Virginia, and graduated from Big Creek High School in 1960. He and friends Roy Lee Cooke (born December 25, 1941), Sherman Siers (June 15, 1942 – September 11, 1976), Jimmy O'Dell Carroll (born June 30, 1942), Willie "Billy" Rose, and Quentin Wilson (November 21, 1942 – August 30, 2019) became amateur rocket builders and called themselves The Big Creek Missile Agency (BCMA). After many generations of designs, they qualified for the 1960 National Science Fair and won a gold and silver medal in the area of propulsion. Photo Credit: Google Images

(R) Homer Hickam Sr., and (L) Homer Jr. circa 1960s. Photo Credit: Goggle Images

Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for three weeks before its three silver-zinc batteries ran out. Aerodynamic drag caused it to fall back into the atmosphere on 4 January 1958. The world's first observation was made at the school observatory in Rodewisch (Saxony). Photo Credit: New York Times

Homer Hadley Hickam Jr. (born February 19, 1943) is an American author, Vietnam War veteran, and a former NASA engineer who trained the first Japanese astronauts. His 1998 memoir Rocket Boys (also published as October Sky) was a New York Times Best Seller and was the basis for the 1999 film October Sky. Hickam's body of written work also includes several additional best-selling memoirs and novels, including the "Josh Thurlow" historical fiction novels, his 2015 best-selling Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of a Man, his Wife, and her Alligator and in 2021 the sequel to Rocket Boys titled Don't Blow Yourself Up: The Further Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky. His books have been translated into many languages. Photo Credit: Google Images

The film’s star, Jake Gyllenhaal, was 17 years old during filming, the same age as Homer Hickam‘s character. In an interview in 2014, Natalie Canerday recalled that Gyllenhaal was tutored on set because he was still in school and taking advanced classes. Gyllenhaal got his first lead role the 1999 biographical drama October Sky.

Jake Gyllenhaal being interviewed in 1999 by take2MarkTV. Photo Credit:YouTube/take2MarkTV

(L to R) Natalie Canerday, and Chris Cooper in "October Sky" (1999) Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

(L to R) Jake Gyllenhaal, and Laura Dern in "October Sky" (1999) Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

(ML) Jake Gyllenhaal, and (L) Chris Owen in "October Sky" (1999) Photo Credit: Google Images

In this interview from YouTuber take2markTV That took place in 1999, with a then 18-year-old Gyllenhaal, the now well-known movie star discusses getting recognized, working with classic cars, the perks of filming in Tennessee, and of course the rocket sequences and whether or not he enjoyed rocketry in his film October Sky.

Take a rocket back in time to a younger Jake Gyllenhaal as his career was beginning to take off to what it would eventually become. You can see the younger Gyllenhaal address how he feels about being noticed with growing fame and so much more!

You can watch the full Interview with Jake Gyllenhaal below: