August 20, 2025 — Actor, director, and musician C. Thomas Howell returns to Fresno on Saturday, September 13, at Royce Hall at Fresno High School for a special screening of the film that catapulted his career, ‘The Outsiders’ (1983). The event is a fundraiser for Howell’s Stay Gold Foundation, a nonprofit organization, with proceeds going toward its mission of “raising awareness to the importance of literacy and the arts.”
Howell, who played the main character Ponyboy Michael Curtis in the film, will be joined by other cast members, including former teen idol Leif Garrett (portraying Bob Sheldon) and actor, screenwriter, and producer Darren Dalton (portraying Randy Anderson). Before the screening, there will be a meet-and-greet where they will be signing autographs. After the film, there will be a Q&A session and copies of the book will be given away.
Howell has been touring the country since May, with Fresno as the last stop. He has enjoyed seeing generations of families expressing their love for the movie and the impact it has made on them.
Howell told the Clovis Roundup, “If I can use ‘The Outsiders’ and sort of share the importance of literacy, reading, and writing, and how it’s affected my life through the arts – playing the guitar, writing a song, screenplay, or painting – it can inspire yourself, and others, and it changed a lot of lives.”
“The reason this works is because they come to see me but I actually come to see them. If I can put a smile on their heart and they put a smile on my heart and that inspiration works both ways and I walk away a better person and look forward to the next time. We’re trying to create an experience.”
The movie was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who was at the top of his career after directing hits like the crime dramas ‘The Godfather I and II’ (1972, 1974) and the war epic ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979). Coppola adapted the movie from the beloved novel by author S.E. Hinton, who wrote the story when she was 16 years old.
Synopsis: “In Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1964, the rivalry between two gangs, the poor Greasers and the rich Socs, heats up when one gang member accidentally kills a member of the other.” (IMDb)
Coppola and producer Fred Roos went through a grueling process to cast the film. Howell had only one credit to his name before getting the role, having appeared in the Steven Spielberg blockbuster ‘E.T.’ (1982). They assembled one of the most recognizable casts that would later be dubbed “The Brat Pack,” which included young actors who would permeate 80s cinema.
The Greasers included Howell, Ralph Macchio (Johnny), Matt Dillon (Dally), Patrick Swayze (Darry), Rob Lowe (Sodapop), Emilio Estevez (Two-Bit), and Tom Cruise (Steve). The rich Socs included Garrett, Dalton, and Diane Lane (Cherry).
The novel and film depicted gang violence, socioeconomic disparity, family dysfunction, and police brutality. It showed a gritty portrayal of working-class youth that hadn’t been seen on screen before. Despite the dark material, it became a box office success, making $25.7 million on a budget of $10 million, and a cult classic.
According to Howell, “People can identify with these characters, both male and female can walk away having connected with these characters.”
The film wouldn’t have been made possible without the Central Valley. In 1980, Jo Ellen Misakian, a school librarian from Lone Star Elementary School in Fresno, sent a letter with signatures from her seventh and eighth-grade students to Coppola’s New York office, advocating for the novel’s adaptation. Coppola decided to make the movie after sitting down and reading the book himself.
In March of 1983, a week before the film’s premiere, Howell, Macchio, Swayze, Garrett, and Dalton were invited to Lone Star to meet with Misakian and her students, who were in high school at the time. The students took photos with them. Later that evening, joined by Dillon, the cast, students, and Misakian watched the film at Regency Cinema in Clovis.
Howell has ties to the area, having attended junior high school in Chowchilla. He was familiar with Merced, Madera, Fresno, and Clovis because his father was a professional rodeo cowboy and Howell spent a lot of time in the Central Valley. The premiere felt like a homecoming for him.
“Coming back to Fresno and screening this film for these people was a pretty remarkable experience for me personally,” said Howell.
The film’s legacy has been cemented. It has been a Broadway play since 2024, where it has received awards, and The Outsiders House Museum opened in 2019. The cast and Coppola have gone on to have prominent careers, which helps keep the memory of the film alive.
“’The Outsiders’ represents authenticity, it’s a beautiful story with great characters that are woven delicately throughout this entire piece,” said Howell.
In his long career, Howell has graced the big screen in classics like ‘Red Dawn’ (1984) and ‘The Hitcher’ (1986). He has also appeared in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ (2012) and popular television series like ‘The Punisher’ (2017), ‘The Walking Dead,’ (2018-2021), and ‘1923’ (2025).
With all the great work he has done, the film’s impact still resonates with him for what it meant to him personally and professionally, and sharing it with the world gives him great joy.
“It’s something for me that really still inspires me, not only just as an artist but as a human, it brings me hope,” said Howell. “It’s something that I’ve taken very seriously. Using ‘The Outsiders’ as a platform has been a gift, it’s the gift that keeps on giving, I’m proud to have been a part of it, it’s a great role, and I’m happy that people still identify with it.”