Exclusive: Noah Hathaway Reflects on ‘The NeverEnding Story’ & That Devastating Artax Scene 40 Years Later
If you were a child of the ’80s and you were asked to name the one movie that absolutely destroyed you as a kid, one that would probably spring to mind for most would be The NeverEnding Story. Without spoiling too much for those who have not seen Wolfgang Petersen‘s 1984 fantasy film, who can forget that devastating scene involving a horse named Artax and the Swamps of Sadness? Well, there’s one person who lived that scene for a grueling cold and muddy three weeks straight. His name is Noah Hathaway and you may remember him as Atreyu, the young warrior tasked with finding an Earthling child who can save the fantasy world of Fantasia from an all-consuming force known as the Nothing.
Before he ventured into the fantastical world of Fantasia, Hathaway was a young child star of the ’70s and ’80s, and appeared in a number of notable shows, such as Battlestar Galactica, CHiPs, Mork & Mindy and Laverne & Shirley, just to name a few. After the release of The NeverEnding Story, he’d also appear in episodes of Simon & Simon and Family Ties and land the lead role in Troll, a cult classic fantasy/horror flick where he played a character named Harry Potter Jr. (no, not that Harry Potter, but more on this later).
Courtesy of Noah Hathaway
Hathaway eventually took a long break from Hollywood, taking the occasional projects here and there, including Sushi Girl in 2012, where he shared the screen with some very familiar faces, such as Sonny Chiba, Mark Hamill, and Tony Todd, to name a few. In honor of The NeverEnding Story’s 40th anniversary, we caught up with Hathaway to talk about his most famous film. In our exclusive interview, the now 52-year-old actor opens up about his thoughts on the upcoming NeverEnding Story remake, his reaction to Stranger Things‘ homage to Limahl’s “The NeverEnding Story,” and that time he got to show Robin Williams the sets of Fantasia.
July 20, 2024 is the official 40th anniversary of The NeverEnding Story. When you hear that number, does it seem like yesterday to you, or does it feel like ancient times?
It’s both. I don’t even look 40, so I’m told — fake knock on wood — but I definitely don’t act it or feel it for the most part. My body does though. So, some days I gotta go, “Hello?” It’s almost like the reality of the world. Like, I kind of pinch myself. It’s kinda like the same thing. It doesn’t feel like it’s been 40 years, but it has in some ways.
Everett Collection
How do you think the film has aged? I don’t know how often you rewatch it, but do you think it’s stood the test of time?
I think it went through a little period where people were super into the CGI, but it still kept a hell of a fan base. It’s got a hell of a cult following. And when those kids [in Stranger Things] did that song, it kind of had this reemergence and another generation found out about it. They don’t make movies like that anymore.
I’m glad you brought up Stranger Things because I was gonna ask about your reaction to that scene where they sing Limahl’s “The NeverEnding Story.” Did you stumble upon it randomly, or did people tell you about that particular moment in the show?
I was at home and I think maybe I watched one episode and I just popped it on the television. I don’t really watch much TV anymore. I sat down and watched it like everybody else and — it was funny. I was like, “Get outta here!” And they did that whole song. I thought maybe, you know, a little 10-second clip. But they did the whole thing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. It was hilarious. It just kept going and I was like, “Oh, wow. They’re really gonna sing this whole thing,” which is ballsy to do. That was an homage though. It was really cool.
There are two versions of the film: the U.S. version, which has a score by Giorgio Moroder and Klaus Doldinger. And the international version, which is a bit longer and only features Doldinger’s music. Which cut do you prefer?
The German version gives it a little more oomph, you know, in those times of real depth. They did a great job with the music. You know, if I have to hear Limahl’s “The NeverEnding Story” again, I’m gonna like [Laughs, shakes his head]. I’ve been sent that song from clubs in Ibiza. They’ve made Ozzy mixes. I get them all the time. All over the world, people are like, “We’re playing it in a club!” Elijah Wood was DJing somewhere a couple weeks ago, and he was playing “The NeverEnding Story,” like mixed it up and stuff. So, I hear it all the time and people play it and send it to me.
There are some really good extended scenes in the German version of the film. The Swamps of Sadness scene is a little bit longer. Even your final confrontation with Gmork is a bit longer, with some extra dialogue they should have been left in.
Attention spans, probably [Laughs]. You know, I passed out in that scene. There’s no oxygen between the dry ice and whatever. So, I went under and they had to dive in and rescue me. So that’s a real groan you hear. I was going out [Laughs].
The NeverEnding Story is getting a theatrical re-release for its 40th anniversary. Do you plan to do some appearances at theaters or anything like that?
I kind of just do my thing. If somebody wants me to come hang out and say hi to people, yeah, I’ll go, you know? It has been a long time to talk about the same movie, and I do it when I do conventions or appearances. So, I wasn’t really prepped to go like, “40 years!” Tami [Stronach], maybe. She’s got a new movie going.
Yea, she has a new movie called Man and Witch: The Dance of a Thousand Steps coming out. Did you check out the new trailer?
I haven’t seen it. Right before the last day of shooting, she called and asked if I’d do a day on it and, you know, it was like a day to get over there and then shoot. So, we’ll do something else another time.
Remind Did you keep in close contact with her after The NeverEnding Story wrapped over 40 years ago?:
I didn’t see her or hear from her. Everybody kind of just went their own separate ways. You know, I didn’t get paid. I had all this legal stuff. I broke my back. They didn’t want to take care of it, you know what I mean? Like, there was just a whole litany of crap. So they had different experiences. I’ve never talked to [Tami] about whether she got paid or not, but you know, I worked a year. She worked maybe a month or so, so it’s a whole different thing [Laughs].
Everett Collection
What about Barret Oliver? I know he disappeared into obscurity and became a photography teacher, but have you ever crossed paths with him since the film wrapped?
Never. Not once. He went and did his own thing, to be his own person. You go to respect the dude for that. Who does that these days? Like, who goes, “Ah, fuck Hollywood, I’m gonna go look like Captain Caveman and take turn-of-the-century pictures. Fuck you!” [Laughs] I give my hats off to him. He’s his own man.
When you guys actually filmed the movie, a lot of people don’t realize that all his scenes took place in the attic at the school. You got to do all the Fantasia stuff, so you two didn’t really shoot anything together.
So when I crossed the Oracle, yeah. That’s the only thing. They had him sitting on the other side [of the mirror], just to put his hand up, really [Laughs]. I don’t know if he maybe shot a couple days or a week in Germany, but all that was shot in Toronto too.
Warner Bros./ Courtesy: Everett Collection.
Did you at least see each other at a screening or premiere?
I never went to a premiere. They wouldn’t let me go to a premiere because they were just assholes and they did a litany of things. It’s such a beautiful, wonderful movie with a great message. I get people at every convention who were like, “Dude, I was gonna jump off a bridge or shoot myself in the face. And The NeverEnding Story, I had just seen it.” Like, I can’t tell you how many hundreds of stories [I’ve heard]. If I wrote a book just on the stories people have told me, I’d have a thick-ass book of really heartfelt stories. There’s something that people just get so emotional about and — that swamp scene kicked everybody in the nuts.
The Swamps of Sadness scene with Artax is probably one of the most devastating moments ever in an ’80s family film.
You know, it took three weeks to shoot that thing. Just that scene of him drowning. Dude, you try doing that for three weeks. I shot a movie [Sushi Girl] with Mark Hamill in three damn weeks. This was just one scene. And it was freezing cold. They had to have these big jet heaters blasting heat on me because I would go hypothermic.
When you saw the finished version of that scene, with the music and all, did it still have a strong emotional impact on you even though you lived it and filmed it for three weeks?
Oh, yea. It’s a powerful scene. I’m weird that way. I’m super critical. I don’t like anything I do, so I always kind of pick it apart. I’ve always been that way. There’s scenes I wish I could have done 50 more times.
How often do you revisit the film?
I’ve only seen it maybe five whole times in 40 years. I just was so hypercritical and picked it apart.
Back in 2010, you told a Dragoncon audience that you were overdubbed by a different actor in quite a few scenes. Can you clarify what happened?
They had me do some ADR because it’s a huge soundstage and there’s so much shit going on. The sound was not great on a lot of it. And then part of it was Wolfgang [Petersen]. So there’s two schools of acting. You have the theater type of acting. And then you have television and things like commercials, but you really have theater and movies. For me, the best movie actors were always super understated. Like Marlon Brando, James Dean, and those actors, they didn’t scream and yell. So we butted heads a lot because he wanted everything to be screaming and yelling. And I was like, “Nah, sorry, there’s all these opportunities for some real depth.” And even as a 12-year-old, that’s what I did. So I think he wanted all this damn screaming. So he laid in a bunch of screaming.
Before filming, how familiar were you with the original book by author Michael Ende?
He gave me one when I started the project and I read it. The whole book in its entirety is amazing. It really sparks your imagination, which that’s the whole point, right? I wish they had had the technology available back then to do the entire book.
Courtesy of Noah Hathaway
Well, we have another opportunity, because Seesaw Films announced they’re making a new trilogy based on the book. What do you hope to see in this new version or what would you like to see done differently?
I don’t have anything to say about how it should look. I think if they’re authentic, if they’re not trying to bullshit and pander like everybody else does. If they’re true and authentic, maybe it’ll be awesome. That’s what I’m really saying. I’m hopeful and my fingers are crossed. History doesn’t favor remakes, reboots, or any of that shit. The populace has such a vision of what has already happened, that they just can’t let it go and embrace something new. Maybe that’s part of it. But I think people just want to capitalize on what’s already there and they don’t have the same heart in it that the original people had. So, hopefully, they do it justice.
I just hope they don’t water anything down, such as the Artax scene. These young kids today need to suffer like we Gen Xers did.
I think Artax should talk, like in the book. I think that would mess me up if the horse just looked at me and was like, “Why aren’t you saving me?” as he’s sinking. I’d be like, “Okay, I’m dead.” My wife, she goes, “I’d be laughing my ass off.” She’d think that’s hokey. But that would just destroy me [Laughs].
Warner Bros./ Courtesy: Everett Collection.
If they asked you to take a small role or cameo to be in this new version, would you do it?
Nope. Wouldn’t even think about it. I like working as an actor. I do little cameos here and there. It’s great. But for me, I gotta be into something. Like, emotionally, it’s gotta be something that I really, really like for me to go and put up with the bullshit and all the stuff that goes around with it. So, for me, to be a participant in something that was already great to me — it doesn’t add shine to what I did. It doesn’t tarnish it either, but it just doesn’t bring shine to it. I’ll let them stand on their own — and if they can get Tami a cameo — good for her if she wants that. I am just like, “It was fine the way I did it.” Hey, if they did a Troll 3 and were like, “Hey, we got a nice check for you. You want to be Harry Potter Jr.?” I’d probably go, “Hell yeah.” I‘d get to see my boy Phil [Fondacaro]. We’d go laugh and shit, but that’s different. [The NeverEnding Story] means so much to so many people. I’d just keep it where it was.
So back when you wrapped The NeverEnding Story, was there ever any immediate talk about a sequel that involved you?
They didn’t even pay me and they tried to blackmail me, and I didn’t go to one premiere. We had a lawyer, like all this crap. Oh, there’s no way.
What are your thoughts on the two sequels we eventually got?
I never saw them. My wife has. She says the second one is bad until you see the third one. She graded on a curve. It ain’t that bad until you saw the third one. [Laughs]
You mentioned Troll a second ago. Wasn’t there talk of you doing a remake and playing the dad in a new Troll movie?
Yea. John Buechler, the director, had tried to try to get it off the ground several times. And every time they had almost gotten it done, it got shut down. I think he tried four different times.
What are your thoughts on John Buechler’s opinion that J.K. Rowling may have lifted the Harry Potter name from Troll?
Hey man, I’m smarter than that. They tried to get me to do some shit like that, but I’m not stupid [Laughs]. It was on Hard Copy. I went to Universal and they handed me a script and it had a pros and cons list on the original Harry Potter and a new Harry Potter and all the similarities, like trying to get me to talk about how it got stolen. How many billions of people are in the world? Do you think any idea is one singular person’s idea anymore? So, all I know is that this [Troll movie] almost got made four different times and the plug got pulled. People could put whatever spin they want. I wasn’t there. I know the last time we had Patricia Arquette — they turned it into a cartoon and they were gonna do an animated version [with her]. And I was gonna play Torok, which I guess was the evil sorcerer, which I thought, “Okay, that’s cool.” So, a couple months before — the same thing. Actually, [John] died. We signed contracts and we were just getting ready to go and he passed away. So, it sucks. I know he’d been trying for like 30 years to do that damn movie again.
In your early years, you appeared in a lot of beloved shows like Battlestar Galactica, CHiPs, Laverne and Shirley and Family Ties. You even had lengthy scenes with Robin Williams in Mork and Mindy. Do you have any favorite memories from any of these shows?
Working with Robin was one of my favorites. I was telling this story yesterday — all the skin on the inside of my cheeks was raw — you would have to literally bite your cheeks to not laugh. And this was not in his sober days either. So he was really off the rails and really outrageous and amazing. I think that was when he was at his best. I love the serious work that he did down the road. I love it. But when he was cooked to the gills, I’ve never seen anybody funnier. And that’s when I worked with him. And he shot Moscow on the Hudson at the same studio that I did The NeverEnding Story. So we bumped into each other. We had dinner, we spent some time together, like, we’d done that several times over the years before. He was just brilliant.
So did Robin actually get to see The NeverEnding Story set when he ran into you at the same studio?
Yeah, we went through some of the stuff, absolutely. He was blown away. He shot on the sound stage next door, and we both were wrapped for the day. And he saw me and I just gasped, so we sat down and he hugged me. And dude, he was a huge, huge star and for him to remember a kid that spent a week with him four years earlier and then to pick me up and hug me and give me a kiss. That had happened on several occasions down the road. The one thing about the entertainment industry is you might work with somebody special and you don’t see each other for 10 years. And then you get to places where you could bump into each other.
’80s Where Are They Now
March 2023
Who can forget all the great TV shows, movies and music of the ‘80s? See what your favs are up to now!
Buy This Issue