John Schneider has one of the most varied and incredible ongoing careers in the entertainment industry. From ‘a good ole’ boy , never meaning no harm to The Man of Steel’s father, to country music artist, Mr. Schneider seems to have done it all. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Schneider via telephone. I was able to learn about the man and what he loves about fandom, hood slides, and Superman. His responses are in bold.
As a Christian actor and filmmaker, do you find that with higher quality work such as the Case for Christ being produced, that faith-based films are getting better in terms of quality?
Yes, it has gotten better, a lot more talented people are making them and also, a lot of people that started making, shall we say, milquetoast Christian films, have learned a lot about how to make palatable, interesting stories for outreach rather than just proselytize, with scripts that actually work and tell a great story, and gets you involved. Like David White, started doing years ago. Like the first one, the one that was made really well, the one about the fireman Kirk Cameron did?
Fireproof?
Yeah, Fireproof, because not only did it have a great message, but it had a really terrific story, and it was well shot. And faith-based films prior to that, didn’t, and prior to David White, gosh I can’t remember the first one I did with him, he (David White) was a real filmmaker, he wasn’t somebody that went to church and said I’m going to make a movie, he was somebody that made movies and went to church. he said, hey I think I’ll make a great movie which is important. Like anything you have to know what you’re doing.
Right
I think that a lot of times when people first start their just proud they made a film and that’s great, but eventually you’ve got to get your skills honed. Just like anything, if I decided to be a world-class golfer, I can make that decision all day, but it’s not going to happen if I don’t put in the work.
Although some people associate with you Dukes of Hazzard and country music were you any type of a comic or sci-fi fan before becoming part of the Smallville cast or were you sort of dragged into nerd culture?
No, I was a big Superman guy as a kid. The George Reeves television show, Great Caesar’s Ghost and all of that from the black and white show, that turned in to a color one, was great. I was always a Superman guy, it still fascinates me that I became Jonathan Kent. I did watch Batman but, it may sound kind of odd, but I was convinced that Batman was a fiction, but I’m not sure that I knew that for Superman, and I am still not sure I know that Superman is fiction.
I believe in Superman. When the movie came out, Superman and Batman they asked who would win? And I said, well dude, Batman is a fictitious character, and so I’m all about Superman, always was.
I really like Phantom of the Grand Ole Opry, and how it’s more like ‘the people we ignore’ ghost story than a ‘Midnight In Montgomery’ kind of ghost story, what inspired that song?
Well, I did not write it, oddly enough the man who wrote that song was inspired by a friend of his who worked at the Grand Ole Opry, for twenty-eight years as the night janitor. Believe it or not, the man who we have in the video, Jim Martin, is the man who inspired that song, he was a friend of ours and we did not know that at the time.
And we didn’t know that. Jim also wrote the song I Hate Cancer, which you probably also heard. He also wrote the song wherever she is I hope she stays there. He is a terrific songwriter, and he wrote the song I hate Cancer about the guy who wrote Phantom of The Grand Ole Opry. because they were buddies and the man who wrote Phantom of The Grand Ole Opry passed away from cancer. Which inspired Jim to write I Hate Cancer.
Right
So, it’s kind of a crazy circle, but I have always been an advocate for people to dream and dream big, and dream bigger, and for me the story that is told in that song is inspiring, dream that even if your eight or eighty, dreams can inspire you, no matter the age. And when I first heard that song Phantom of The Grand Ole Opry, I thought I really need to cut this song., and Jim’s gotta be in the picture. So, it’s one of those small world things.
My wife and I grew up watching Dukes of Hazzard and have introduced to our children to the Duke’s and we watched Smallville together, so from that point of view has this type of sharing those TV shows led to you getting multigenerational fans visiting you at cons?
Their fifty-year-old parents grew up watching the Dukes of Hazzard, and their kids are twenty and they grew up watching Smallville, so it’s this great sense of community that I get from both of those shows and now I find these parents of those kids who watched Smallville say hey, you see John Schneider in this show he did before Smallville , they are just as shocked, that Jonathan Kent from Smallville is Bo Duke in the Dukes of Hazzard `And stars as Bo Duke in this show, so I think it’s just great. Then there’s this show called the Haves and Have-nots that I have been doing for four or five years, where I play a real bad nasty man and everybody talks about that which is kind of cool so I get that fanbase too, the Haves and the Have-nots the Tyler Perry show , and then occasionally a Secret Life of the American Teenager person will pop in, it seems like I’ve got some part of just everybody’s life journey in one television show or another.
What interested you to do cons in the first place, and what do you think is unique about the Fandemic Tour?
Well, the number one the Fandemic tour is very well done as a con, and number two, I have always done fans shows. when the dukes was going there was a thing called World of Wheels so I would do world of wheels and that was an opportunity for me to have actually get out and meet Dukes of Hazzard fans face to face and learn a little bit more about what makes them tick what they like what they don’t like , and that really really translates to country music all of our music is independently produced all of our tours are independently produced everything there is paid for by us and if I don’t have a keen understanding of what the audience likes then I’m just throwing money an time away and I can’t do that . so I learned early on, like 1979, that the best place for me to do my real career research like what to do, how to do it, and where to do it is at conventions, in those days it was car shows, then it was the dukes , but ,now its because Smallville is such a big part of those. but they are really really hard shows to run well but Fandemic runs their organization really really well, and the fans are treated really well and everyone from my side of the table is treated well, and flights are on time and cars are there, and schedules are done really well, but also on the fan side, on the other side of the table everybody has a fantastic time and that’s not always so. I am a big fan ofFandemic because they seem to really know not only what the celebrities type needs to feel secure, but also the fans. I get the impression that the people that run Fandemic are fans which is important because not everybody realizes how important fans are, believe it or not, they seem to miss that somehow. But the folks, (Fandemic) get it and I love that.
Now a goofball question, when you’re at a show and see a replica General Lee or any other muscle car, do you ever think “I wonder where the closest creek is, and could I clear it?”
Well sure, but my first thought is will they let me slide over the hood, but sometimes I love to slide in through the window. But an important thing, if you slide into a window is you have to have, this is a must this is not a maybe, you have to remove the unlock post from the door cause if you don’t you get caught on it, some people want me to slide into the window of their car and I will, but not if the unlock post is there because that’s no fun.
Mr. Schneider will be a featured guest at The Fandemic Tour at the NRG Center in Houston, TX, September 14-16, you can get more information , and purchase tickets by clicking on the link here:https://www.fandemictour.com/