Bull Rider who trained Perry for '8 Seconds' says actor left lasting impact on rodeo world

As he was playing heartthrob Dylan McKay on 90210, trying his hand at movies, he decided to take on the role of legendary bull rider Lane Frost in the 1994 rodeo biopic '8 Seconds.' "I've had 18 world champions come through my school, and Luke was probably one of my best students," said ProRodeo Hall of Fame Bull Rider Gary Leffew. "A lot of guys want to ride bulls but they never put in the work - he showed up every day, he did the work, he did everything I told him." In 1993, he was hired to teach Perry how to be a bull rider for the movie '8 Seconds,' but there was a catch: he had to do it without live bulls. "He might break a leg and they got ten-million-dollars invested, so they couldn't afford to let anything happen to him," said Leffew. "Since I couldn't put him on a bull to teach him, I had to teach him just through drills and visualization, and actors are so good at mimicking, that's why it was so easy to teach Luke.” Leffew said, like Luke, Oscar winning actor Cliff Robertson was also a good student. "I taught Robertson years ago for a movie called J.W. Coop, he picked it up real quick, too," said Leffew. To prepare for the filming of ‘8 Seconds,’ he said Perry would come train at his ranch in California, then he'd send him to Burbank for jumping horse lessons. "Then he bought two horses and brought 'em to San Antonio, then I worked with him for three months down there while we was shooting the movie," he said. Leffew said, on-set, he'd get about an hour to work with Perry doing horse drills and simulators, and he'd have him watch 20 minutes of Lane Frost's greatest rides every day. "Just to absorb that into his subconscious so he'd draw on that once he got on, just try to get in the spirit of Lane Frost," said Leffew. Leffew said he felt Perry understood his teachings, and the proof came once filming was over and the actor could ride a bull for real. "It was amazing what he was able to do, and it just kind of backed up the way I teach because I'm big on visualization and pretending you're someone else, role modeling, you're literally acting out a role when you get on as if you're somebody else, and pretty soon you become that person," said Leffew. "The very last thing I said to him when he got on that bull was ‘you are not Luke Perry, you are Lane Frost.'" The day after the movie wrapped, Leffew says they took Perry to ride a bull in Burney, Texas, and he nailed it. "I was sweating bullets, I was really amazed, I was hoping he'd go three or four good jumps, but I didn't think he'd finish the way he did," said Leffew. "He did everything identical to Lane Frost including riding the bull and making a beautiful ride, stepped off perfectly on his feet - which is hard for a lot of guys to do, even seasoned pros - did that little signature wave of Lane Frosts, and people went crazy!" Leffew said it was almost like Lane's spirit took over and guided Perry...MORE