Raw Irons

Andy Irons brought thunder to surfing. And, in Hawaii today is Andy Irons day. Nobody needs an excuse to celebrate the champ’s life, but 24 hours dedicated to the memory of surfing’s biggest rockstar ain’t hard to fill with fond memories. Flipping through file photos and footage today, your friends at Stab found the uncut footage of Andy’s (staged) on-camera fury with Ben Stiller, from Taj Burrow’s 2007 biopic, Fair Bits, directed by the Malloy Bros (Stab was involved closely in the film). Keen fans may recall the scene, in which Andy smashed a bottle on Stiller’s head en-route to the shorebreak. But you’ve never seen the final 30 seconds when Andy lights up for the camera.

On the day it was shot, Andy had just taken a red eye flight from Kauai and, thanks to a notorious streak for being star of the show, was a little eggy with having to play an extra: “I can’t believe I’m a fucken cameo,” he said.

Since it was being shot for his film, Taj was on hand and remembers the vibe concisely: “Once he got there and was working with Ben Stiller he was cool,” says Taj. “He was pretty nervous. He was really nervous actually because on those big productions you do a lot of takes. He was getting frustrated with himself and he was saying sorry to Ben. It was funny cause Ben was like, “no, no, you’re doing great!” and then he rolled his eyes.

“Anyway, the day was getting on and we were shooting the aggro scene. And, those beers we were skulling were not filled with water so we were all getting a buzz on from it. When it came to that cussing scene, Andy was ready. He was in perfect form and went straight into character! It was as if someone had dropped in on him at Pipe. He was awesome. That was the real Andy right there. Passionate, raw.

“I guess we edited it out cause of all the cuss words. I love this final scene so much!”