Buckcherry's Todd Does Films

Josh Todd of Los Angeles rockers Buckcherry will light up the screen in two upcoming films. The handsome, tattoo-covered singer has bit roles in the crime drama The Saltan Sea (starring Val Kilmer and Meatloaf ) and comedy The New Guy, featuring cameos by numerous musicians.

Todd says both parts "just fell in my lap." The Saltan Sea opportunity came about when Buckcherry was on tour in Australia. "Val Kilmer came to the show, brought his girlfriend, who's a big Buckcherry fan," Todd says. "We just met and he called me later and wanted me to check out a movie he was doing that revolved around crystal methane. I have some experience with drug addiction so I just thought he was pumping me for information."

As it turned out, he was recommended for the role of Big Bill, a hoodlum who works for a drug dealer. Todd, who had never considered acting as a career, reluctantly went to see one acting coach before he auditioned for the part in Hollywood.

"My girlfriend is an actress and she scheduled an appointment, so I showed up," he says. "We just turned out to have a really great connection with this particular coach and she told me, 'You're gonna get this part,' and I said, 'No, I'm not.' She was right."

Todd admits he was slightly intimidated when he first arrived on the set. "There were like thirty people standing around and I was trying to shoot a gun and it kept jamming on me," he says. "It was a little frustrating, but after that I was off to the races."

The New Guy, a comedy featuring guest appearances by Tommy Lee, Henry Rollins, Gene Simmons and Kool Moe Dee, was more natural for Todd.

"I just have a little spot in it," he says. "I do this stoned Jack Nicholson character that I do for [Buckcherry guitarist] Keith [Nelson]. I just kind of put it into my character. I only do two lines, but it's funny."

Buckcherry's new album, Time Bomb, was released March 27th, and the band will hit the road with Monster Magnet later this month. Todd says, for the near future, his band will keep him too busy to pursue further movie parts.

KAREN BLISS
(April 5, 2001)