Kurt Russell’s ‘Tombstone’ Costar Remembers How the Western Icon ‘Held That Movie Together’

Tombstone star Michael Biehn revealed the harsh shooting conditions of the classic western, and how Kurt Russell was a leader on set. Biehn played one of the villains of the film, Johnny Ringo, who was a member of the Cowboys gang. Recently on the Inside of You podcast, the Aliens and Terminator star got candid about how Tombstone director George P. Cosmatos didn’t exactly run a tight ship. According to Biehn, Cosmatos unceremoniously replaced the original director (and Tombstone screenwriter), Kevin Jarre after 4 weeks of shooting.

“George Cosmatos just was brought in and nobody really liked him,’ Biehn explained. “I said five words to him the entire time I made [Tombstone]. I watched him directing the way he treated people. And the next time he approached me, I said Go f–k yourself. And that was the only five words I ever said to George Cosmatos”

‘Tombstone’ director George Cosmatos allegedly rubbed the actors the wrong way

When asked by host Michael Rosenbaum exactly what Cosmatos did to rub Biehn the wrong way, the actor said it was the treatment of others. “He was a guy that you if you were above him on the food chain, he’d kiss your ass. So he tried to kiss my ass,” Biehn quipped. However, Cosmastos wasn’t as kind to those lower on the pecking order. “But if you were below him on the food chain, he treated you like s–t.”

So since Tombstone didn’t have a director the actors respected, one might wonder why it has become regarded as a classic over the years. Of course, Biehn points towards none other than Kurt Russell as someone that helped right the ship. “Nobody directed it,” he insisted. “You know, people say did Kurt Russell direct the movie? And the fact of the matter is it’s a little bit like a football team.”

Biehn credits Kurt Russell with helping right the ship on ‘Tombstone’

Biehn implying Russell was something of the captain of a group of actors makes a lot of sense. Russell started as a Disney child actor and had already been on film sets for decades by the time Tombstone rolled around.

“Kurt on the other hand, kind of held that movie together when they fired the director and brought [Cosmatos] in. Kurt’s a wonderful guy,” Biehn added. “He’s a great, great personality [and] fun. He’s got a great laugh. Obviously, a wonderful actor that’s been a movie star since he was 10. You always hear about people talking about actors who are young actors growing up in the business and they’re always getting all [messed] up or whatever. Not Kurt.’

However, Biehn also noted that a month of shooting was thrown out when the original director was fired for being too strict with the script. “There’s a lot of Tombstone that got cut out. There was so much with the Cowboys with me and Powers [Boothe] that got cut out of the movie.”