How Sean Penn Became ‘Spicoli’ in ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’

Fast Times at Ridgemont High arrived in theaters in 1982 and struck a chord with movie fans, in part because of the characters. Stoner surfer Jeff Spicoli, played by Sean Penn, is just one particular example which helped to make the film relatable to their own high school experiences. Because who didn’t know a “Spicoli” while going to school?

It was a part that Penn took very seriously — something which was to become a trademark element of his work — but at the time Fast Times was released, he only had a couple of prior film credits to his name. “He was in character the whole time,” Cameron Crowe shared in a new interview with the Naked Lunch podcast, which you can watch below. “He never said, ‘Hi, my name is Sean,’ until after the movie had wrapped. He came and visited us in a black leather jacket and introduced himself. I thought it was hilarious, but he played it so seriously that you couldn’t really tell and it was just so real, which of course, is the funniest stuff.”

The Moment They Finally Heard Spicoli’s Most Famous Line

Crowe recalls that he was on pins and needles, waiting to hear Penn deliver what he says was his favorite line in the script, the moment when Spicoli indignantly replies to his teacher, Mr. Hand, played by legendary actor Ray Walford, “You dick!” Though he tried, Penn refused to deliver the line prior to filming it. “I would always say to him, you’ve got to say the line, ‘you dick.’ I will die if [the line] doesn’t come out perfect, because it’s my favorite thing in the script. Just say ‘you dick,'” he told hosts Phil Rosenthal and David Wild. The actor, after many requests, simply said, “I’m not going to do it. You’ll know it when we do it.”

READ MORE: How ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High Revolutionized Teen Movies

The moment of truth finally arrived and a number of people were on hand to witness it. Future Pearl Jam manager Kelly Curtis was behind the camera with Crowe, while his then-girlfriend and eventual wife, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, was also in the room. All were anticipating the delivery. “Ray Walston, the only celebrity in the cast, is there and he set Sean up for the line,” he reflects. “Sean goes, ‘you dick!’ We looked at each other and we’re like, ‘Oh my God, Eureka! It’s better than we even [expected]….it was spectacular.”

But the Famous Line Caused Drama on the ‘Fast Times’ Set

Walston, as it turned out, wasn’t pleased. “[He] stomped off the set and said to [director] Amy Heckerling, ‘I won’t have a young actor talk to me like that!’ Sean was so confident. He was so on fire with [the line] that he would do a take where he’d say to Ray Walston, ‘You red-faced mother-effer!’ We would be dying behind the camera,” Crowe recalls “Ray Walston at a certain point was like, ‘I didn’t do all that I did in the business to be talked to by a 21-year old kid [like that]. I didn’t work with Bill Bixby and Billy Wilder to be told I’m a red-faced MF by this little guy who also calls me a dick!’ Meanwhile, we’re high-fiving behind the camera. Because this is our shot at Spicoli and that’s Sean. He knew he had it the whole time.”

Watch Cameron Crowe on the ‘Naked Lunch’ Podcast

Tom Petty Saw Himself in Jeff Spicoli

Once Fast Times at Ridgemont High was released, Crowe learned he had a very famous fan of the movie, Tom Petty. The moment came to light as the pair were working on Heartbreakers Beach Party, his accidental directorial debut, which recently surfaced for its first-ever theatrical showings.

“[The movie] had just come out and the studio didn’t like the movie or believe in it. They cut [the number of] theaters [screening it] at the last minute. Basically, Fast Times was only seen by people on VHS later,” he shares. “It was bombing in the theaters, but he knew about Spicoli. He was [telling me], ‘I felt like Spicoli when I was in Gainesville. People would see me with my long hair and immediately assume that I was stoned and incapable of thought.’ That was when he said, ‘Pick up the camera, I’m going to play this song for you that you’re going to love’ and that was the beginning of my directing career. ‘I’m Stupid’ [in Heartbreakers Beach Party] is his ode to his own Spicoli-ness, which is crazy. I was going nuts when he was doing it. I’ll never forget how that felt.”

READ MORE: The Gift That Tom Petty Gave Cameron Crowe