BILLY CAMPBELL

Cliff Secord in The Rocketeer

who wouldn’t want to whiz around in a rocket-powered jetpack evading the likes of howard hughes, nazis and a dastardly 007-fresh Timothy Dalton? with a reboot/sequel of the 1991 comic superhero adventure recently announced, it’s time we chatted with original Rocketeer, Billy Campbell.

Would you like to play the role of the Rocketeer again?

Sure! rumour is I might cameo in the reboot, but I hear it’s set in 1944 so they’d need to erase a couple of decades off my mug. I suppose if they can turn Chris evans into a 90lb weakling, my nose hair and wrinkles shouldn’t pose problems!

What’s the strangest request you’ve had from a fan?

To sign someone’s kid, with a Sharpie, no less.

Would any of the Rocketeer’s skills or attributes be useful in real life?

Maybe his non-fear of motorised flight. Mine is boundless.

Did you keep any souvenirs from the set when filing ended?

A menu from the Bulldog Cafe, with a call-sheet stuffed into it. ended up giving it to a Navy Seal who tackled me like a puppy in a bar. He’d seen it with his dad at 10 and swore it was why he’d joined the service! I was touched and bruised.

What would it say on the character’s gravestone?

Something of me’s gone today Perhaps for best it’s flown away But I must say, If truth be known, I envy him to whom it’s flown. (I wrote that!)