INTERVIEW: Danny Bonaduce, Barry Williams square off in ‘Bigfoot’

The Syfy network has a long history of presenting original movies that provide campy entertainment on Saturday nights. Typically, the creature features deal with nuclear-enhanced sharks or forgotten mega-dinosaurs. They’re not averse to parodies either, as could be seen with this summer’s Jersey Shore Shark Attack.

On Saturday, June 30, the tradition continues with the mother of all beasts: Bigfoot. The monster flick stars Danny Bonaduce (The Partridge Family) and Barry Williams (The Brady Bunch) as bitter enemies in a no-holds-barred hunt to track down the “Missing Link.” Their casting is not a coincidence. Having two of the most recognizable TV stars square off against each other in the middle of the wilderness, while a vicious Bigfoot is on the loose, pretty much screams must-see television — at least for those audience members who continue to get giddy over all things Sasquatch.

The shoot for the film was hampered by historic bad weather in Seattle, but both actors said the experience of working with director Bruce Davison and rock ‘n roll legend Alice Cooper was very special.

Bonaduce, who currently hosts a morning radio show in Seattle, and Williams, who is starring in a theatrical show known as Lunch with the Brady Bunch in Branson, MO, both said they know full well that viewers will tune in because of their iconic TV roles from the 1970s. And that’s perfectly fine for the two guys.

“It’s an absolute privilege,” Bonaduce said recently during a conference call with journalists. “I can’t imagine that Barry feels too differently. … So I imagine he does embrace it. But here are the facts as far as I am concerned. That almost all of the good things that have come to me in my adult life have something to do with the fact that I was on The Partridge Family.”

Bonaduce even said that if he and Williams weren’t involved in Bigfoot there was a good chance the film would not have been made in the first place. “It had to be Greg Brady versus Danny Partridge in this movie or there was going to be no movie,” he added.

Over the years, as both actors have taken their careers in different paths (they even fought each other in a celebrity boxing match), the question about their most memorable roles always comes up. And they have no problem providing an answer. “It’s funny, when I do interviews for things, and I do a lot of them, people almost seem afraid to ask the question,” Bonaduce said. “How can you possibly interview me without bringing up The Partridge Family? I can see because of some of the interviews that I’ve done with people who are mostly famous for one thing they did a long time ago and they really resent it. I’m not one of them. I could not be more grateful for The Partridge Family and know the blessings that it has brought me.”

Williams concurred with Bonaduce’s sentiments. “Type casting works against you if it prevents you from getting jobs that you really want to do,” he said. “I’m sure there are things that I’m not considered for because I’m known as kind of the good guy Greg from The Brady Bunch. But I’ve had a varied career that has included Broadway. I’ve been a DJ. I’ve written a book. I’ve produced movies. I’ve done every play I’ve wanted to do. I’ve got a great show that’s about the Brady Bunch.”

Plus, Williams said the memories are mostly positive, of taking audience members “back into their own childhood when the whole world felt safer and more fun for them.”

As TV viewers get ready to view Williams and Bonaduce sporting guns and tracking down Bigfoot in the woods, their thoughts may not entirely be with the Sasquatch bloodshed on the screen. They may have trouble getting two iconic theme songs out of their head.

“Here’s the story of a lovely lady…”

“C’mon get happy…”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

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