After years away from the screen Corey Haim is back home and working

Print

E-mail

Text

Corey Haim must have quite the collection of four-leaf clovers.

The former teen idol, who rose to fame in the 1980s with movies such as License to Drive and The Lost Boys, was virtually absent from the spotlight during the ’90s to deal with highly publicized drug abuse addictions but recently returned to the public eye with a television show and several movies in the works.

Haim, who grew up in the Leslie Street and Cummer Avenue area, started work on his latest movie, Shark City, July 28 in Toronto.

The Stardust Pictures production tells the story of two best friends in their early 30s living in New York City. Kenny, played by Jefferson Brown, aspires to live the high life but can’t afford it. Degan (David Phillips) is a mild mannered real estate agent and music producer.

The pair find themselves in trouble when Degan falls for Samantha (Jordan Madley), the daughter of a mobster, and Kenny scams the mafia man out of $1 million in a stock deal. The movie also stars Kill Bill’s Vivica A. Fox and Haim takes on the role of Chip.

“We changed the role to make it more me,” Haim told The Mirror during an interview at The Drake Hotel on Queen Street West Thursday, July 24. “I improv a lot; that’s my speciality. We made it a more rock and roll type character, not so stock broker, not so Kevin Bacon, way more slick, way more cool. The feeling of the movie is Swingers meets Suicide Kings without the blood.”

Haim, who recently completed the film Crank 2: High Voltage with Jason Strathem and Amy Smart and Lost Boys: The Tribe, started acting at age nine in the Canadian television series The Edison Twins. He then made the jump to film in 1984 with Firstborn starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey Jr.

After the release of several movies in the mid ’80s, Haim got his big break when Lucas was released in 1986, followed by cult classic The Lost Boys one year later.

It was during filming of The Lost Boys where he met Corey Feldman, and the two went on to star in some seven movies together, eventually collaborating on their television show The Two Coreys, which airs on A&E.

But Haim's reign in Hollywood was short lived as he battled substance abuse and repeated stints in rehab. His 1989 film Dream a Little Dream was his last theatrically released movie and with the exception of several direct to video films, the actor remained off the radar for most of the '90s.

The 36-year-old is now back in front of the camera, with movies under way and The Two Coreys in its second season and at least a third on the way.

The show follows the lives of Haim and Feldman, who were inseparable as youngsters and now find themselves not speaking.

"I will not talk to Corey Feldman right now," Haim said, adding Feldman has, among other things, mocked the time Haim used to cut himself. "I wish his family well and I will always love him but this one is a big break. He's slammed me one too many times. He hasn't been a good friend to me."

Feldman's manager, Scott Carlson, did not respond to a request for comment.

Haim, who keeps a small group of friends in Toronto and Los Angeles, shared his Hollywood advice with a group of young actors in a recent airing of The Two Coreys.

In the episode, Haim tells the aspiring thespians to stay close to their families and away from "bad things," he said on the show. "The industry can be tough. Stay young as long as you can."

"I never saw my dad that proud of me," Haim told The Mirror, adding his drug addiction has been hard on his family. "He's very protective of me."

Now sober for about a year, Haim knows how lucky he is to be back in front of an audience.

"Two per cent of people get a second chance in life," he said, smiling. "I got a second chance. Today I'm not going to blow it but I have to take it day by day. People are believing in me again because I am believing in myself again. I'm confident again. Today I'm in a great place."