'The Lost Boys' saxophonist Timmy Cappello revisits his iconic role in the 1987 vampire flick

Saxophonist Timmy Cappello talks with Yahoo Entertainment's Lyndsey Parker about playing the "sexy" saxophonist in the 1987 vampire movie "The Lost Boys," saying the movie changed his life.

Video Transcript

LYNDSEY PARKER: I'm very excited to meet you, Timmy. You are the original sexy sax man. Before that guy on the internet was the sexy sax man, it was you. And it's Halloween season. Obviously, I've got-- you know, I'm ready for my "Lost Boys" viewing. And--

TIMMY CAPPELLO: Oh.

LYNDSEY PARKER: "--The Lost Boys" scene that you're in, it stands out. How did you end up in this "Lost Boys" scene at Santa Cruz boardwalk, this concert scene?

TIMMY CAPPELLO: Well, I was at the Warner Brothers lot auditioning for the Gary Busey part in "Lethal Weapon." And I hear this song by The Call. And so on it's a fairly long song. I had to sit there. I had to wait.

By the time it was done, I couldn't read for the part. But I went in anyway. And a guy walked by that I'd never met. And he said, you play with Tina Turner, don't you? And I said, yes, I do. And he said, come with me.

And behind his desk was Joel Schumacher, the director of "The Lost Boys." And Joel said, Timmy, I've been trying to get in touch with you for two weeks. Do you have a phone? Are you in this business at all? Do you want work?

What the hell is wrong with you? Would you like to be in my next film and perform a song? And I said, you bet your ass I do.

So he sends me this song to learn to play. And it was the same song that made me late for the audition. I was the second choice.

LYNDSEY PARKER: Oh.

TIMMY CAPPELLO: The first choice was "The Call," who made the song, who wrote it. Michael Biehn was the songwriter of The Call. And he wrote it.

But they were a Christian band. They hate me. Because I turned their prayer into a greased-up, hip-popping, jumping-around ultra sort of, you know, balls-out thing that they, I don't think, appreciated.

LYNDSEY PARKER: Where did you come up with your OG sexy sax man look?

TIMMY CAPPELLO: Tina was the first person to give me a codpiece.

LYNDSEY PARKER: Oh.

TIMMY CAPPELLO: She was shopping. And she said-- she saw an S&M store. And she said, Timmy, that's what Timmy needs. I was taking a big chance with the purple pants. They were actually purple and pink.

I just said, I'm going to push this as far as I can and see if they tell me, oh, no, no, no, no, we can't have this. But they were-- just went, love it. And Joel just said, yeah, I'm great with it.

LYNDSEY PARKER: You have played with, not just Tina Turner, but Carly Simon, Ringo Starr, Peter Gabriel. It's a long list of people you've played with. Has that been a double-edged sword for you, that you're like "The Lost Boys" guy.

TIMMY CAPPELLO: The only reason that I'm here talking to you is because of "Lost Boys." I'm just the luckiest guy in the solar system. It's just so, I just can't believe my luck. I mean, I'm a good player. And I'm a good singer.

But I'm not going to make anybody forget, you know, John Coltrane. And I'm not going to make anybody forget Steve Perry, you know? I'm just a blues shouter and a blues shouter on the saxophone as well.

And I found my, I found my spot. It just feels like, oh, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. You're the luckiest guy in the world and accept it.