1999 football flick

Varsity Blues: Paul Walker’s breakout role came in Texas football saga

Before actor Paul Walker — who died Saturday in a fiery car crash — hit it really big in the Fast & Furious franchise, the Hollywood heartthrob spent time in the Austin area filming a movie that would help catapult him to fame.

In the 1999 coming-of-age football flick Varsity Blues, Walker portrayed hotshot quarterback Lance Harbor of fictional West Canaan, Texas. In the wake of a serious knee injury, Walker’s character takes a back seat to second-string quaterback Jonathan “Mox” Moxon (played by James Van Der Beek of Dawson’s Creek fame) and learns a lesson in humility.

Paul Walker and the rest of the Varsity Blues cast called the Austin area home for several months in 1998.

In a tweet mourning Walker’s death, Van Der Beek wrote: “I just remember him as being so effortlessly golden. He had that way about him, that ‘thing’.”

Van Der Beek, Walker and the rest of the Varsity Blues cast called the Austin area home for several months in 1998. The movie was shot in Austin, Coupland, Elgin, Georgetown and Taylor. Filming locations included The Landing Strip, a strip club near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport; Top Notch, an iconic hamburger joint; Georgetown High School; and Elgin’s Main Street.

“The football drama pulled in $54 million at the box office, making the actor (Walker) one of the new golden boys of teen cinema,” according to Entertainmentwise.com.

In a 1999 interview with The Daily Cougar, the University of Houston’s student newspaper, Walker fondly recalled filming Varsity Blues.

“It was like going back to high school — 40 football players, a gang load of cheerleaders — all for three months, while we’re hanging out and having a good time,” Walker said.

Bustle.com noted that Walker’s appearance in Varsity Blues represented his Hollywood breakout role.

“The film might not have aged well, with many ’90s nostalgics quoting the film’s cheesy dialogue,” Bustle.com said, “but Walker impressed fans and critics alike.”

Indeed, Bustle.com referenced this positive review from Entertainment Weekly:

“Paul Walker, as the sidelined quarterback (a victim of the coach’s shoot-’em-up-with-painkillers exploitation methods), gets at the essence of every teenage jock who suddenly realizes he’s been living a fantasy.”

In a 2012 review on the Austin Film Society’s Slackerwood.com, blogger Elizabeth Stoddard gave somewhat grudging respect to Varsity Blues. Stoddard wrote that the movie “won’t be forgotten anytime soon. Just as long as folks look to it more as a ’90s pop culture touchstone — even that may be giving it too much credit — and not as a landmark movie about Texas football.”

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In Memoriam

Legendary Texas singer-songwriter Joe Ely dies at 78

Joe Ely/Facebook

Joe Ely was a major figure in Texas' progressive country scene.

Joe Ely, the legendary songwriter, singer and storyteller whose career spanned more than five decades, has died from complications related to Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and pneumonia. He was 78.

In a statement posted to his Facebook page, Ely died at his home in Taos, New Mexico, with his wife, Sharon, and daughter, Marie, at his side.

Born February 9, 1947, in Amarillo, Texas, Ely was raised in Lubbock and became a central figure among a generation of influential West Texas musicians. He later settled in Austin, helping shape the city’s reputation as a hub for live music.

As with many local legends, it's hard to tease out what specifically made Ely's time in Austin so great; Austin treasures its live music staples, so being around and staying authentic from the early days is often the most important thing an artist can do.

Ely got his local start at One Knight Tavern, which later became Stubb's BBQ — the artist and the famous venue share a hometown of Lubbock. He alternated nights with emerging guitar great Stevie Ray Vaughn. He built his own recording studio in Dripping Springs, and kept close relationships with other Texas musicians. Later in his career, Ely brought fans into the live music experience, publishing excerpts from his journal and musings on the road in Bonfire of Roadmaps (2010), and was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame in 2022. Austin blues icon Marcia Ball was among Ely's friends who played the induction show.

"Joe Ely performed American roots music with the fervor of a true believer who knew music could transport souls," said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

In the 1970s, Ely signed with MCA Records, launching a career that included decades of recording and touring around the world. His work and performances left a lasting impact on the music scene and influenced a wide range of artists, including the Clash and Bruce Springsteen, according to Rolling Stone.

"His distinctive musical style could only have emerged from Texas, with its southwestern blend of honky-tonk, rock & roll, roadhouse blues, western swing, and conjunto. He began his career in the Flatlanders, with fellow Lubbock natives Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, and he would mix their songs with his through 50 years of critically acclaimed recordings. [...]"

Read the full story at KVUE.com. CultureMap has added two paragraphs of context about the Austin portion of Ely's career.

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