![]() The movie was a chance of a lifetime for Philbin to act and surf on film and to work with legends Gerry Lopez and Laird Hamilton. Turtle is no stereotypical Hollywood dumb wave rider, but more of a sympathetic lost soul who has secretly shaped his own surfboard but lacks the confidence to show anyone. Philbin gives an excellent performance and never has surfer-speak sounded so alien and so believable. Turtle is the film’s odd man out as Rick is forever leaving him to cozy up with his lovely island girl Kiani or to go surfing with Chandler. After being ripped off by some of the local surfers, the naive Rick is befriended by surfer and board sander Turtle who feels sorry for the “Barney.” Their friendship turns to jealousy when Rick insinuates himself with Turtle’s employer Chandler, “a soul surfer,” played by Gregory Harrison who takes Rick under his wing and teaches him the fundamentals of surfing. North Shore starred Matt Adler as Rick, the winner of a wave pool surfing contest in his home state of Arizona who uses his prize money to come to Hawaii to surf the big waves of the North Shore. The answer was a resounding yes, but Philbin had to audition seven times to convince director Randal Kleiser that he could morph into the part. Then in 1987, a script for North Shore passed the desk of his agent who asked John if he knew how to surf. While living in Los Angeles and traveling to locations around the country for film projects there was just no time for the aspiring newcomer to surf. He says, “Sometimes I think, ‘Wow, how could that guy have recognized me when I don’t look anything like that?’ Then I realize- it’s because they just saw the movie the night before!”Īn avid surfer since he was a child, the California native gave the sport up for a period of time during the eighties when his love of acting took hold of him. ![]() Almost twenty years later, John Philbin still gets recognized as the blonde, bushy-haired, surf-slang speaking Turtle. North Shore in particular has become part of the lexicon of surfing movies so most fans have it in their film library and have watched it over and over. ![]() Though his resume includes over thirty movies including Children of the Corn (1984) The Return of the Living Dead (1985) playing the dorky Chuck complete with the Miami Vice wannabe wardrobe: and Tombstone (1993), the talented John Philbin is best known to audiences worldwide for his appearances in the Hollywood surf movies North Shore (1987) and Point Break (1991).
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