Kiefer Sutherland Shares River Phoenix Stand by Me Story That May Have Inspired Film's Title

Kiefer Sutherland is sharing a behind-the-scenes moment that may have inspired the title of iconic film Stand by Me.

During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday, the Rabbit Hole star, 57, revealed that a guitar session he had with the late River Phoenix, who he starred opposite in the 1986 coming-of-age film, might be behind the title of the cult classic film.

“We were making Stand by Me, which was a Stephen King short story called The Body, and River Phoenix was learning guitar and playing guitar and he was actually very, very good,” Sutherland told host Jimmy Fallon.

“...And I was playing “Stand by Me” and singing that song, and he said, ‘Oh, I love the melody of that song,’ and he hadn’t heard it before,” he continued. “So I was teaching it to him and Rob Reiner [the film’s director] walked by and said, ‘Oh, I haven’t heard that song for a long time, I love it.’ And then that was the end of that discussion.”

“And then Rob Reiner ended up using that song for the film and changing the title to Stand by Me,” added Sutherland.

"Do you think he changed...?" Fallon, 49, began to ask.

"I have no idea," Sutherland admitted, adding, "I just know it was part of that conversation."

Sutherland played bully Ace Merrill in the famous movie, which he starred in alongside Phoenix, Corey Feldman Jerry O’Connell and Will Wheaton, all teens at the time. Phoenix died aged 23 seven years after the film’s release in 1993. 

Sutherland previously spoke about seeing Phoenix's star quality while working with the late actor on the cult film.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2021, he said, “I worked with the main cast very little but when I’d get there early, they would be workshopping scenes and trying out each other’s lines. River  specifically had such an appetite to learn and be good — and, of course, he was.”

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“He was a year older than the rest of the boys and I think it made a pretty significant difference,” Sutherland continued. “When the others were doing age-appropriate things, River was asking questions like, ‘Would you mind running lines with me?’ He saw me playing guitar and asked, ‘What song is that? Would you teach me?’ ”

“His desire to get to the next level was so evident that you knew he was going to do something special,” Sutherland recalled of the later actor.