A look behind-the-scenes with Indy's "red-haired friend"

Post date: Dec 30, 2012 6:12:30 AM

The opening sequence of the edited-for-video version of "Egypt 1908/Curse of the Jackal" (renamed "My First Adventure") contains a montage of young Henry's early childhood growing up in Princeton, NJ. These scenes were filmed around November 1991 in Wilmington, NC. One of the actors present for a few of these scenes, Kenny Gasperson - who played Indy's red-haired friend - recently discussed his involvement with the shoot. He also shared some extremely rare behind-the-scenes photos!

Kenny Gasperson (with glasses) in Egypt 1908

"It was the first part I had ever booked through an audition, and I was scheduled to work 2 days. My mother mentioned why I wouldn't be in class for a few days, and the school seemed cool with it."

Costumed and ready for action!

"Prior to shooting, they brought me into wardrobe to fit me and even went so far as to craft me a pair of authentic time period appropriate glasses for the shoot." Before shooting, the actors were also instructed not to destroy their meticulously-detailed vintage costumes: "I remember when we were first getting our wardrobe they were giving us a lecture about how important and old these clothes were and I was like "Hmm, yeah, I'll be careful" and then I immediately destroyed a pair of socks while putting them on."

Filming the attic scene. (Click to enlarge!)

The young actor even had a short stint as a double for Corey Carrier: "Sometime on the second day, someone (a PA?) came to me and asked if I could work an extra day. Of course I said yes, and on the 3rd day I got to be Indy's body double, as Corey had to leave town to shoot at the next location. So, if you watch that episode that I'm in, there is a scene (pictured above), where we're in an attic and Indy is riding a bike. There is then a close up of his legs. Those are actually my legs!"

The baseball scene.

According to Gasperson, this scene was filmed at the same location used for the classroom scene - which was the Tileston School at 412 Ann Street. He also has a funny story about the sidewalk baseball game (filmed across the street from Indy's house at 117 South 4th Street): "while they were setting up for that, I went to craft services (the best part of any set) and got a drink. They had us stand on our marks and I was still drinking and didn't want to move. I also knew that a Dixie cup wasn't specific to the time period and that I couldn't just set it down, so I hid it in my glove. All was good until the director was like "Kenny, open up your glove like you're going to catch the ball". I opened my glove and they saw the cup and everyone got a good laugh."

Indiana gets away! Below: Filming this sequence.

(Click to enlarge!)

The other scene Gasperson recalls with fondness was when Indiana (the dog) is whisked away in a balloon experiment: "While walking through the graveyard, which was of varying elevations, we came across a homeless man sleeping off a hangover next to some graves. Somebody dropped a leaf on his face and he stirred a bit. As I was trying to hold back my laughter, (fellow actor) Michael comes up with an armful of leaves and just dumps them on my head. The hobo woke up and looked at us and started screaming. We also started screaming and then bolted back to the set and informed the police that were blocking off the road. I can only imagine how it looked to that poor homeless man. He fell asleep drunk, and was woken up by 6 kids who were dressed like it was 1908. He probably though he went reverse-Rip Van Winkle."

Corey, Kenny & the other child actors between takes.

(Click to enlarge!)

Thanks to two crudely hand-drawn maps given to Kenny and the rest of the crew, we now know the location of the above scene and the homemade-railroad-car scene - which was filmed on a now-gone stretch of railroad tracks on the east part of town. Check out the updated Google Map on the Downloads page for the specific locations!

The railroad car scene.

Overall, it sounds like Kenny enjoyed his time on the set and describes series star Carrier as "a pretty cool, down to earth kid" who enjoyed hanging out with the rest of the kids. He also mentions running into several other members of Indy's gang later in life, most of which were local to the Wilmington area.

Indy with his 1908 buddies.

A special thanks to Kenny for sharing his Young Indy memories and for giving us a rare glimpse into the making of this beloved show!