Does Clockstoppers (2002) Hold Up?

by Kaleb Tuttle

I loved watches as a kid. I would pretend to stop time with them. I don’t know how or when I first saw Clockstoppers. To me, as befitting the film, Clockstoppers is a movie that exists outside of time and space. It was constantly on in my house. I think about this scene at least once a week. Once, when my younger brother was touring colleges, we met with one Film School’s Dean. He had a past life in special effects, and he told us about the films he had worked on. He listed a handful of major, blockbuster movies. Then, he mentioned Clockstoppers. My brother and I lit up. Could he tell us about how they did the water droplets effect? He seemed exasperated and asked us why everyone our age was obsessed with Clockstoppers. I didn’t have a good answer for him in the moment.

I have thought about that conversation a lot since then. This movie captured my imagination so completely. Is it possible that it wouldn’t play as well on a rewatch? I queued up the film the other night and I was delighted to find myself transported back to the early 2000s. But I knew, on this one, that I needed some help. So I reached out to Finneus Egan, an actor in the film, to help me answer the question: Does Clockstoppers hold up? Our exclusive interview below.

The following has been shortened and edited for clarity.

Kaleb Tuttle

Do you wanna just introduce yourself and just say the role that you were in the film?

Finneus Egan
Yes, Hi! My name is Finneus Egan. I played Ditmar's friend. Unfortunately, Ditmar's friend didn't get an entire name, but I worked my way up to getting more and more in the movie than I should have. I pushed and it worked. But Ditmar’s friend, Finneus Egan, Clockstoppers, 2002.

Kaleb Tuttle
Well, you literally pushed. You have a really big scene in the movie where you push over Zak, the main character.

Finneus Egan

The push was supposed to happen. So I was the bully in the whole deal, obviously with Ditmar. Jesse [Bradford], that day was like, “I get stunt pay for this right?” In that scene, the vice principal comes up and she didn't really have a part, and then I brought her in. You should always try and do that. I'm like, “He started it, Miss Jackson!” and she's like, “Well, I'm stopping it.” At that time, the Outkast song was really popular. [Singing] “I’m sorry, Miss Jackson. I am for real.” So, I went, “I’m sorry, Miss Jackson. I am for real!” and they cut that part. I was hoping Outkast saw that back in the day. But unfortunately, they cut that scene. We had a lot of fun.

Kaleb Tuttle
There's another big scene at the club where they're doing the [Battle of the DJs]. There's not a ton of dialogue in that scene, but they keep cutting back to your character. What do you remember about that?

Finneus Egan
So Jonathan Frakes directed it. He was a great director. Some of these directors out here are terrible. They treat you terribly, and they don't really have a vision. I have all kinds of stories for that. I'm not really acting much anymore, so I can dish on some of these directors. It was like a 3-day scene, and we had a lot of special effects, and the upside-down shot where Meeker, (my friend Garikayi [Mutambirwa], we’re still really good friends, 20 years later), split on his head. So it was a lot of you know, CGI, and like kind of crazy cutaways and whatever. So it's a lot to handle with the crowds and everything, and I noticed that day, he wasn't putting me on the camera much. I was at one point like, “Hey, Bro, give me a shot.” And so he's like, “Okay, let's give Finn his own shot.” And then they ended up using a bunch of it. So don't be afraid to ask directors. You gotta drive it forward sometimes.

Kaleb Tuttle

Yeah, I noticed that in the scene. Really interesting.

Finneus Egan
Yeah, no, it's funny. And there's another funny story. So I'm a young kid at this point, you know. Dreadlocks, whole thing. I get this part, and they put you on a weekly contract at Paramount. We're supposed to shoot it in 5 days. So it was like 3 and a half days for the DJ scene and then, like 1 and a half for the push over scene. It was like 5 grand a week they're paying, right? And that's a lot of money back then. We shoot all the DJ stuff, and then we go to shoot the Friday scene, and it's raining so they can't shoot it. So they're like, “Oh, we're going to put you on hold so you can't go shoot anything else.” So they're paying me a weekly contract to go shoot that other scene. It goes like a month and a half, bro. Another week, 5 grand! Another week, 5 grand! I'm sitting at home. They accidentally paid me an extra 5 grand that they shouldn't have. And so I actually called the studio thinking like, “I’m gonna be the good guy.” And Gale Anne Hurd, you know she produced it. Terminator, Armageddon, big time. “Gale Anne Hurd is gonna hear about it, and they're gonna think my reputation is really great.” I remember calling and they connected me to the accounting department. And I was like, “Yeah, I think you overpaid me for a week.” And they're like, “Oh, I guess we did. Thanks so much for telling us.” I never heard another word from anyone. They just took the check, canceled the check, and that was that. 

Kaleb Tuttle
Oh, my gosh! You were too good of a citizen.

Finneus
I was too good. I was too good.

Kaleb Tuttle
And so how did you first get the part?

Finneus
I auditioned for it. It's funny - I actually had to choose. I got a part in Planet of the Apes. The Mark Wahlberg ones. As a small monkey role [filming] in April.  It wasn't [a speaking role]. And then my agent was like, “You go with the speaking role.”

Kaleb Tuttle
Did you have a class of peers that you were always auditioning with?

Finneus Egan
Sure!

Kaleb Tuttle
How was the scene?

Finneus Egan
You definitely saw the same people over and over again back in those days. Aaron Paul was one and we actually we both got a Bones episode. He beat me out on the bigger part, and I was a smaller part, and we were friends at that time. And we used to party at a famous actress’s house. I remember being with Aaron Paul when he got Breaking Bad. And he was like, “Oh, I got this thing. I’ll be shooting in New Mexico for a while.” and I was like, “Have fun in New Mexico, bro.”

Kaleb Tuttle

How was Clockstoppers received when it first came out? It came out in theaters, right?

Finneus Egan
Oh, yeah. I was hoping it would be similar to Back to the Future, right? Because Jesse's kind of like Michael J. Fox. It's hard for me to watch movies more than once. I saw it at a private screening at Paramount. Then I went to the premier. Coolio was there, and a bunch of people's kids that were famous. I remember that. And then I went on a date to see it, and then I went with my family. Now, I got a 6 year old kid, and I guess I'll watch it one more time with him.

Kaleb Tuttle
Any other stories from your career that you’d like to share?

Finneus Egan
Oh, yeah, you need to check out my Pirates of the Caribbean behind-the-scenes documentary that I did. 

Kaleb Tuttle
Excellent.

Finneus Egan
It's about 7 min long. I get a bunch of pirates wrapping and singing. It's fantastic. I'd love to see if you think that movie holds up, cause I'm betting Pirates holds up.

Kaleb Tuttle 

What are you working on now?

Finneus Egan

I'm still doing a little acting here and there. Got some stuff brewing, so might make a little comeback here in the near future. But my main business, I'm a real estate broker now. I got a team out here in LA. You're looking for a property out in Los Angeles, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, I am your guy. Yeah, I have a lot of actually pretty famous clients. And you know, I'm really good with actors and people in the entertainment industry whose income might be hard to figure out. So if any of your viewers are looking for creative solutions or people wanna buy income properties together. That's the best thing to do. If you have any questions, check me out.

Kaleb Tuttle
Awesome.

Finneus

Clockstoppers. Man. It was a great set. Great director, great producer. The whole cast was incredible. 

Kaleb Tuttle

Holds up!

Finneus Egan

Holds up baby! 

Zoom fireworks erupt

Kaleb Tuttle

Oh, wow.