Celebrities | Movies | Pop Culture | 90s | 80s

What Kind Of Excellent Adventure Has Alex Winter Been On Since We Saw Him Last?

After starring in a few of the biggest movies of the the late 80s and early 90s, Alex Winter seemed to vanish from the big screen. The Lost Boys came out in 1987, and it was absolutely amazing. Just two years later he returned in the comedy classic Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, where he was playing Bill S. Preston Esq., and going on the trip of a lifetime.

Warner Bros.

He followed it up by coming back for the sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, but after that, he realized he wanted more. Winter wanted to be a bigger part of the creation process, so in 1993, he signed on to make the movie Freaked with his former Bill & Ted team and together the three of them wrote, produced, and directed the film.

Orion Pictures

While it was never widely released, it managed to become a cult classic. Winter seemed to have found a passion for direction, but there was a huge span of time where he didn't do anything. He didn't act in any feature length films from 1991 until 1997, and he didn't direct again until 1999. And even then, after his brief return he was gone again until 2012.  

So what has he been up to all these years?

Alex Winter may not have had a lot of big acting or directing roles in the last few years, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been keeping busy. Winter has actually had an incredibly busy career behind the scenes since realizing how much he loved it.

He has found a passion in directing and that has extended outside of feature length films. He actually directs a lot of television commercials, including a Ford ad starring Jason Statham as a German DJ.

In the past, he directed music videos for artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ice Cube, but he hasn't done that in a long time. Instead, Winter has actually found a position as a director for Jimmy Kimmel Live segments, so he has been keeping very busy.

There have been rumors circling about a third Bill & Ted movie for years now, and Winter said that "it's looking good." Apparently the original writers, director, and of course Keanu Reeves are all on board and it's just a matter of time. "People always ask if Keanu’s doing it and I’m like, ‘No, I’m making a Bill movie.’ Of course he’s in it. I can’t make a Bill & Ted movie without Keanu.  I can’t really go further than that other than to say some people are going to be returning from the original by the fact that they’re in it,” Winter said. “There will be new people because obviously, sadly, Rufus [George Carlin] isn’t around anymore and they will be interesting actors, too.”

Hopefully we get more news on the next Bill & Ted movie soon, because I miss seeing Alex Winter on screen!