Courtesy of Momentum PicturesWe all know that Steven Tyler can sing, but the Aerosmith frontman also has some acting chops, and he gets to show them off in a new film called Happy Birthday, which premieres in theaters on September 9. The movie is an adventure caper focusing on two young men who head to Mexico for a wild birthday celebration and wind up being kidnapped and held for ransom by a pair of American women they meet who happen to be connected to a local drug cartel.
Tyler, sporting a bushy beard, portrays “The Mexican Cowboy,” who takes the main characters to a makeshift strip club, a cockfight and other seedy sights in the city of Mexicali.
Happy Birthday was written and directed by Casey Tebo, a veteran music video director whose credits include the 2013 Aerosmith concert film Rock for the Rising Sun, which documented the band’s tour of Japan in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant meltdown.
Tebo says he initially was reluctant to use Tyler in his film since he wasn’t a fan of the rock legend’s work in the 2005 movie Be Cool. Casey reveals that Steven’s daughter Chelsea helped change his mind by suggesting he watch her father’s performance in the 2004 indie flick Goodnight Joseph Parker.
“He nailed that role — he wasn’t Steven, he was the Character,” explains Tebo, “so, of course, then, I adjusted that role to be his.”
The new movie also features a score by Stone Temple Pilots bassist Robert DeLeo, marking the first time the musician has composed a film score.
Tyler tweeted about Happy Birthday on Wednesday, calling it “this crazy f*#@n movie I was in.” Check out a trailer for the film at the Momentum Pictures’ official YouTube channel.
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