photo courtesy of CoreyFeldman.net

Actor, activist, and rocker Corey Feldman turns 53 on July 16, and he is celebrating in true Corey style. On his actual birthday, he’ll kick off his first-ever arena tour as the opening act for Limp Bizkit, whose frontman Fred Durst just directed Feldman’s new video for “The Joke.”

And another reason why Feldman is having the best birthday ever is his Eugenio Mira-directed cult horror comedy, The Birthday, is getting a wide release through Alamo Drafthouse this fall. Feldman claims that mysterious industry powers-players “shut down” The Birthday after it was a film festival sensation 20 years ago — allegedly as part of a larger retaliation, because Feldman has been so vocal about rampant child exploitation in Hollywood. But thanks to the support of Feldman fan Jordan Peele, the film that Corey considers to be his all-time greatest onscreen work will finally be seen.

Feldman knows he isn’t always taken seriously, especially when it comes to his music career, but he says he eventually “realized that that was part of the resistance against my speaking out about predatory abuse: ‘We’re going to try and diminish him. We’re going to try and make him seem like he’s got no value, because the more we make him look crazy, the more we make him look worthless, the more it increases the odds of nobody believing what he has to say.’ … So, were there people saying that the whole [music] thing was a joke? Of course! And what I have to say to that is: The joke is on you.”

So, while Feldman confesses that he does “weep at times” over how the entertainment industry has treated him, now he’s getting the last laugh. In an interview that took place shortly after he was revealed to be the Seal on The Masked Singer, he talks about winning over Riot Fest concertgoers, hanging at the Playboy Mansion with Durst in the ‘90s, perfecting his craft, finally getting his flowers, and, hopefully, one day finally getting justice for his late friend Corey Haim and other child stars.

I enjoyed seeing you as the Seal on The Masked Singer this year. I am wondering if you went on the show to clear up some misconceptions about you and your talent.

No, no. That’s not why I went on. I went on just because I thought it would be fun. Really, it’s just a bit of a laugh, and I thought the timing was actually appropriate, considering the fact that I’m doing my first big arena tour this summer.

People have been guessing “Corey Feldman” on The Masked Singer for like 10 seasons now!

I know! And so, when they hit me up… I kind of laughed out loud and I was like, “That’s so funny. It’s about time you guys finally caught up.” But you know what? At the same time, I’m honored and it’s a compliment to me that people have been guessing me for so long, because it means that at least I’m on everybody’s minds as far as being a singer or whatever — rock star, pop star, however you want to look at it. I’m grateful that people have that connection when they think of me. So that’s actually a compliment to me. And then secondly, I think the fact that we finally did it at this time, like I said, I thought, “OK, this is a great commercial right before the tour starts.”

Do you think people have come around to your music? Because I remember when you were on The Today Show a few years ago…

We got a lot of crap. Yeah.

But I feel like the tides have turned a bit. You played Riot Fest. And you’re going on tour with Limp Bizkit, which is awesome.

I’m so grateful. Listen, I think it just kind of took its time. Let’s face it: I don’t deny the fact that when I started, I wasn’t the greatest singer. If you go back to footage of me in 1989 or 1990 when I was first getting started, I’m sure I was hitting bad notes. I’m sure you can find those clips if you want to try and lambast me. But I’m proud to say that yes, I did sing live. It was not lip-synched. It is what it is. It’s real. I am grateful to clear that up, and I’m grateful that people are getting to hear my real voice.

It must have been a little hard to put yourself out there. But you kept going and didn’t give up.

Well, listen, you get kicked, you get arrows in the back, you get dirt in your face, you get all of that stuff — it’s part of the territory. As an artist, if you’re going to put yourself out there, you can’t expect that you’re just going to get a pat on the back every day. You can’t expect that everybody’s just going to love everything you do. You kind of have to gain some rhino skin, as Tom Petty used to say, to make yourself tough enough to get through living in Hollywood, to get through being an entertainer and an artist, because you are going to constantly be questioned and attacked and ridiculed for what you do. You gotta toughen up. I think you’ve got to be pretty brazen about it. But at the same time, I think that the reward is overwhelmingly redeeming when you actually push through your insecurities, when you push through your fears and you come out on top. So, let me be an example for all the sorts of artists out there who think, “Oh, I’ll never make it. I’m just little old me.” Well, guess what? I never gave up on my dream. I pushed for almost 40 years, and after 30 years, I got my first top 40 hit [“Go 4 It!”]. It literally took 30 years to get my first top 40 hit. It takes the time that it takes. But if we’re dedicated to our craft and we believe in whatever it is we want to make our reality, we can visualize and make that a reality. Whatever it is, it’s up to us to create and envision our future. I believe so strongly in manifestation, and I believe that all of this is due to that.

And in 2020 you got charted first top 20 hit, which was “You Are Free.” That must have felt especially validating, especially given what that song was about.

Absolutely. That was a song for Corey Haim, the kind of words that I had always wished that I could have said to him when he was alive. It was actually the closing song for the film I made, My Truth, the documentary I put out that got hacked and all that stuff.

Given that you’ve been on a soapbox with a megaphone about child abuse and exploitation in Hollywood for so long, and Quiet on Set just came out and got a lot of attention, is it possible that your documentary could get a wider release now? I feel maybe more people would be open to watching it now.

You’re not the first reporter to bring this up, but I had to take it down for my own safety and for my own security, because I was out there fighting this fight alone. I suppose if some major studio or network decided to knock on my door and say, “Hey, can we make you an offer to distribute it? And you’re going to be protected and you’re going to be taken care of properly” — like any other major announced movie or documentary of this nature — then sure, I would consider it. But I definitely wouldn’t go it alone again.

In light of Quiet on Set and various #MeToo stuff that has come up in recent years, I hope you’ve had moments when people have come up to you and said, “You were right. We should have listened to you.”

They’ve been saying it to me almost every day since 2020, really. But that’s in private. People don’t say that publicly. … But I’m always grateful. It always puts a little lift in my step or makes me feel like, “OK, there’s some redemption or some value to what I’ve been doing.” But that being said, it’s been mostly a disappointment and mostly disparaging and discouraging, and it’s been very hard for me. When you invest everything you’ve got to making a film to expose the truth, and you’re kind of laughed out the door and ignored and shut down and stolen from… I mean, gosh… it’s a disaster, what they’ve done to me. Who knows, maybe one day there’ll be a recut, an uncut version.

In general, though, you’ve been such an advocate for child entertainers, and you risked so much of your own career to do that.

It’s been very difficult, obviously, choosing that path. It definitely knocked some opportunities down, knocked away some friends, but they weren’t probably real friends in the first place. I believe in doing the right thing no matter what. I am a soldier for God, and I believe in spreading the word of God, and that’s my mission: helping those who don’t have a voice to help themselves. …. That’s where I find myself, and that’s where I will continue to find myself, because that’s the way God made me. I feel like, yes, it’s great that I have these abilities and talents as an artist, but if I’m not using them for good, then what’s the point of it all?

So, you have no regrets, or no resentment that also no one else spoke up when you were speaking up?

It’s not resentful. It’s not regretful. It hurts. It hurts — I’ll be honest. I do weep at times because of the fact that I was abandoned in that way. There was nobody that stood with me when the time came. I stood up and I was hoping to see others stand alongside me, and it just didn’t happen. … Maybe it was the fact that they all wanted to keep themselves away from the danger of exposing themselves, or maybe they just didn’t want to ruin their own careers because they saw the way I was being treated. But whatever it is, enough is enough. You can’t sit there and say that everybody else deserves justice, but not the two Coreys. They don’t deserve justice. How is that possible? How is that possible? But it is what it is, and I accept life on life’s terms. And right now, I’ve got nothing to complain about because I’m very grateful. … I’m grateful to have this huge tour coming up with Limp Bizkit, and I’m more grateful to announce today that I have my first mainstream theatrical feature film in 20 years, starring me, coming to theaters this fall. 

Tell me about that!

I’m really excited for this to hit the press. We’ve just finished making a deal with Alamo Drafthouse, who is going to be releasing this film, which is my greatest work — my finest work is an actor, I believe. Anyway, it’s the work I’m most proud of, whether anybody else agrees with it or not. As an actor, it was very, very challenging. The film that I’m speaking of is called The Birthday. It is a cult classic already, even though it’s never been seen by eyes in America, other than those who came to two small screenings at the Lincoln Center, thanks to Mr. Jordan Peele and Ian Cooper. Those two men came to my house for a private screening of the film, because I found out Jordan was a fan of mine, and he invited me to the premiere of his film, which was produced by Ian and himself. We met, and he was really nice, and we traded numbers and we were texting each other one day. And I just mentioned that I had this film that I thought he really should see, because I was really proud of the work. I was like, “If you’re a fan of mine, you should see this work, because it’s an important work.” And so, he came over with Ian and they watched the film, and after the film was done screening, he said, “This is a cinematic masterpiece and it deserves to be seen by the world.” And with that, he took it upon himself to set up some screenings of the film in New York where the Lincoln Center has a few screening rooms. He put together this entire film series with three or four of my other films and then this film. He had two screenings of this film on the final night, and both screenings sold out. Distributors came in and they saw the reaction from the audience. They saw how packed it was. They saw the interest level. And we started getting offers. And lo and behold, a movie that was literally intentionally taken off the map and shut down by the powers-that-be…

Yeah, I was about to ask why it never came out before…

Because they did not want you seeing how great my work was. Literally, it was an intentional move to keep me off the map. And I can’t tell you who. It’s the same “they” that stole my [My Truth] film. It’s the same “they” that runs the media. I don’t know who “they” is. All I know is that for whatever reason, it was shut down. I won Best Actor Award in Luxembourg. I won awards for the film in Spain at the Sitges Film Festival. It was released only in those two countries. But for whatever reason, it was locked out. I know for a fact that Quentin Tarantino, Oliver Stone, Richard Donner, Guillermo de Toro, many of the greatest directors in the world, they all saw the film. They all called me and praised me for my work in the film and said how great it was. Yet it still was never released.

And so, I just can’t even believe this is happening. I’m so beyond grateful that it’s finally coming out and the world gets a chance to see it. It’s my best work, my favorite work. It’s a dark comedy, kind of like if you took David Lynch, Richard Donner, and Steven Spielberg and mashed them all together. The director of this film, Eugenio Mira, is a brilliant, brilliant filmmaker. His work includes a film called Grand Piano, which was with Elijah Wood and John Cusack — great, brilliant movie. [The Birthday Party] was his film right before he made that movie. So, I am just so excited and so thrilled for the whole world to see this movie. I can’t wait for it to come out. It will be out in theaters via Alamo Drafthouse this fall. I can’t give you an exact date yet. All I can tell you is I’m really excited.

And you also have this Limp Bizkit arena tour starting on July 16, your birthday. How did that come about?

I think it all came about because of the Playboy Mansion, if you want to break it down. Fred and I met in the ‘90s at the Playboy Mansion. Everybody remembers when Fred Durst and Limp Bizkit were constantly at the Playboy Mansion and doing private shows there. Well, that happened to also be right at the time that I was doing that. We traded numbers, and right away he was like, “I want to make music with you. I want to work with you. Let’s do a movie together. Let’s do music together. Let’s work together.” And so, from that moment on, we’ve always stayed in touch. We’ve always talked about doing projects together. Many people don’t know this, but if you go back to my biggest, most successful album yet, Angelic 2 the Core, there’s actually a song with Fred Durst on that album called “Seamless.” We co-wrote and co-produced it together, and it’s a really cool song. It’s badass. It really does kick ass. It’s Fred and I with Scott Page of Pink Floyd fame playing sax throughout the song.

Will we hear “Seamless” on the tour? Will you do it together?

I would love that! From your lips to Fred’s ears. I’ve been trying to tell him, let’s make it happen.

Now that you’re sort of reaching kind of more of a hard rock audience. I have to ask: When you played Riot Fest last year, how did that go over? It’s always so hard to play a festival, when it’s not necessarily your crowd.

Right? I expected Riot Fest to be a disaster, actually. I was so scared. I was like, “Oh my God, they’re going to hate it. It’s not going to fit. I don’t know what to do. Nobody’s going to show up.” I was mostly embarrassed that there was going to be the press saying, “Hey, there’s only five people in the audience. You look like an idiot.” But then when I saw that there were putting me on at 2:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday, I was like, “Well, that’s OK. Nobody expects there to be anybody there at that time anyway, so it’s really not going to be even noticeable that it happened.” When we got to the stage that day, there literally was five people in front of the stage watching the band that was on before us. There was nobody there. It was a big, giant, empty field. And I was like, “Exactly, exactly! This is why I didn’t want to do this! Oh my God, how am I going to get through this?” I was so upset. I went into my dressing room, all depressed, and then [actor] Jamison Newlander from The Lost Boys had flown down from Los Angeles and he comes knocking on my door. And he’s like, “Man, I’m so excited, dude, I can’t wait. It’s going to be awesome!” And I’m like, “Thanks for coming, but I’m kind of embarrassed that you flew all this way. … This is going to be a crap show. It’s only 20 minutes and nobody’s there. It’s going to be stupid. .. But thanks for the enthusiasm, buddy. I appreciate it.”

And so, he goes out the room and then 20 minutes later, my security comes in. He goes, “Hey, where do you want me to put your guests?” And I said, “What do you mean? Put ‘em anywhere you want. Just throw them in front of the stage.” He goes, “How do you expect me to get them there? … How do you expect me to get through the crowd?” And I said, “Crowd? There is no crowd!” And he’s like, “Ohhh, you’ll see.” And so, we walk out like 10 minutes later, and I see 20,000 people had taken the lawn literally in half an hour. It went from zero to 20,000 in the blink of an eye. I was floored. I was absolutely floored. And then the promoters of Riot Fest came up to me and congratulated me and said, “Just so you know, we’ve been doing this for 15 years and never before in the history of Riot Fest has that stage had that amount of people in front of it. Literally, it’s never come close.” So, it was historical. It was the first time they had 20,000 people show up to the small stage in the corner of the festival at 2:30 in the afternoon. We were very grateful that everybody showed up.

Do you wonder, or worry, that some people show up expecting or even hoping for a trainwreck, or a joke or novelty-type thing? As if so, does that drive you to prove those  people wrong?

Well, that’s how it was in the beginning. Actually, for the first five, 10 years, it wasn’t like that — everybody was into the teen-star thing and the fandom thing, and I just went with it. There were screaming crowds everywhere I went. But then the ‘90s became more cynical… it became grungy and it became gritty, and you had to be cutting-edge. That’s when I was playing punk clubs and they were throwing beer bottles as a compliment. I kind of got used to all that; that was just how it was. And then it got to the early 2000s, and then the whole thing with The Today Show, and that’s when the mocking started. That’s when people started coming to laugh at me and point fingers. And I realized that that was part of the resistance against my speaking out about predatory abuse: “We’re going to try and diminish him. We’re going to try and make him seem like he’s got no value, because the more we make him look crazy, the more we make him look worthless, the more it increases the odds of nobody believing what he has to say.” That was really the whole goal behind that. And of course, there are people that come in not knowing what the music’s going to be; you have a fraction of people who come in to mock you because they just want to laugh.

So, were there people saying that the whole thing was a joke? Of course! And what I have to say to that is: The joke is on you.

This Q&A has been edited for brevity and clarity. Corey Feldman’s full conversation can be seen and heard in the split-screen vide above.