An Interview with Lebowski Fest Founding Dude Will
It's been over a decade since The Big Lebowski first graced the big screen. Lauded as the first cult movie of the Internet age, the film has brought out a dedicated and undying following over the last few years. This has culminated with the touring, annual Lebowski Fest. The fest brings together Achievers from far and wide to celebrate bowling, White Russians, and everything else Lebowski. Seattlest chatted with (Co-)Founding Dude Will Russell, who was responsible for the first Lebowski Fest in Louisville in October 2002.
There's a bit of a Seattle connection to the film.
There's a huge Seattle connection, mainly through Jeff Dowd, who was part of the Seattle Seven... We've been in touch with Jeff since 2003. That was the very first time we reached out to him to see if he would come out to an event. And I remember my mind being kinda blown, talking to him on the phone. He sounded like Jeff Bridges sounded in the movie: his "umms" and "mans" and I think he literally answered the phone, "Dude here."
How did Lebowski Fest start?
We were like, "Let's have a Big Lebowski party at a bowling alley." We were gonna do it for just a few of our friends. We thought maybe 20 people would come out and we had about 150 people show up. Some people traveled. By the end we realized we weren't alone. It just continues to blow us away. The Achievers are everywhere.
You started it in Louisville. What's Louisville like?
Yeah, I'm from here and I still live here. It's a good place for me to call my home. The people are kind of a little bit of everything around here...
...seems like it has a somewhat laid back, Dude-like attitude.
Well it's the home of the Kentucky Derby, which is by all accounts one of the best parties in the world; it goes on for about two weeks. It's kind of laid back and it's a little bit different from the rest of Kentucky. Culturally it's kind of like Austin is to Texas. Kentucky's great; it's a beautiful state but there's kind of a different way of thinking in Louisville.
You've been to Seattle before?
I was out there in 2007 for the Lebowski Fest. I contemplate moving out [from Louisville] and Seattle's definitely high on the list. I really liked how pretty it was and everybody seemed nice and friendly. The way I describe it is: All the West Coast culture without any of the snobbery, unlike other cities on the West Coast. It's got all the progressive West Coast culture that I'm into without any of the attitude.
The New York Times speculated that March 1998 was a significant date in the history of Kahlua and the White Russian. Do you think the movie has had an equal influence on bowling?
I would have to imagine that it has. I'm no expert on bowling. It's one of those things, I think, where it may have fallen out of fashion for a while and it seems to be kind of stylish again.
And I think the Coen brothers with the way they shot that movie, it's like beautiful art. The way they did it creates this really visually appealing style that played into culture. And I'm basing this on the fact that... you're seeing new bowling alley scenes develop, like the Lucky Strike. Of course, that's more high-end and not so much what we go for. But I think bowling is fun and I would attribute some of that to The Big Lebowski. I think you have too.
In the last few years here in Seattle we've lost two of the more old school bowling alleys.
Yeah, it's sad to see the old ones go. Another thing that breaks my heart is when they take an older bowling alley and they remodel it. They just completely kill it.
So do you bowl?
I'm lucky if I break 100, honestly.
At the end of the day it's just a really fun party It's at a bowling alley; people are in costume. Everybody's real friendly, we have that common love for the movie. No matter how different we might be otherwise we all love The Big Lebowski, even if for one night. The idea of a bowling alley in general is that they're pretty casual places. It's not a place where you feel uptight. You walk in and you feel at ease. You get yourself some fried food.
The movie came out over 10 years ago and it was panned by the critics. Especially after Fargo, it seems like everybody was pointing to it as the Coen brothers' stumble. What do you make of its staying power?
Oh, it was a huge failure at the box office. I think a lot of people, myself included, saw it the first time and thought it was just alright and thought it was kinda cool. I ended up seeing it a couple more times and by the third time that I saw it was when I could step away and look at it apart from all the other [Coen] movies. I could enjoy more of the characters and the dialog and the visuals and look at it from a different angle and really see through to the meaning of that movie. Somehow, I don't know how, it gets better with repeat viewings.
Are there any characters for which you have a particular affection?
I do have an affection for each one of them. I identify with parts of the Dude but also with parts of Walter. I think there's a little bit of each one of those people in all of us. Obviously they're pretty extreme--Walter especially.
So you'll be here and so will Jeff Dowd himself...
Fremont Outdoor has plenty of surprises and fun stuff, like White Russian flavored popcorn. They're really into it. And there's the statue of V.I. Lenin, so we'll have to work that in somehow."
6pm, show at 7:30; Mon July 20th // Fremont Outdoor Cinema // $20
7pm; Tues July 21st // ACME Bowl - 100 Andover Park W, 98188 // $20
