In September 1971, the stars were aligning. Dennis Hopper and Kris Kristofferson, that is. As Hopper was filming The Last Movie, his highly anticipated follow-up to Easy Rider, Kristofferson was making moves of his own.
Not only was the legendary singer-songwriter scoring his first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Me and Bobby McGee,” the counterculture masterpiece he co-wrote with Fred Foster that Janis Joplin took to the top of the charts, but he was also about to make his big-screen acting debut.
Originally summoned to Peru as a horse wrangler and to contribute music to Hopper’s movie, Criterion Collection shared that Hopper thought the singer-songwriter looked so good on a horse that he offered him the role of Minstrel Wrangler right there on the spot.
Or, as Kristofferson later casually put it, per Screen Anarchy, “I was hired as a horse wrangler. Dennis Hopper had me sing ‘Me & Bobby McGee’ in the film because he liked it so much.” The decision changed the trajectory of Kristofferson’s career.
Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
After his debut in Hopper’s metafictional drama that explored the effects of Hollywood filmmaking on a remote Peruvian community, Kristofferson landed the starring role in Bill Norton’s Cisco Pike, followed by major parts in Sam Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and Frank Pierson’s A Star Is Born.
Back home, Kristofferson still had plenty of musical momentum behind him. His songs were everywhere: Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee” was dominating the pop charts, while Sammi Smith’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night”—another Kristofferson composition—had topped the country chart.
Meanwhile, his own second studio album, The Silver Tongued Devil and I, was also turning him into a bona fide recording star, thanks in part to the love song “Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again).” The success was followed by a hit fourth album, Spooky Lady’s Sideshow, which reached No. 11 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart in 1974.
As for the original reason he went to Peru in the first place, The Last Movie’s soundtrack, not officially released until five decades later, per Variety, was widely celebrated, thanks in part to Kristofferson’s contributions.
The raw ballad he wrote for Joplin made its way into The Last Movie, but as a country-folk duet performed with Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas. He also performed “Good for Nothing Is Good Enough for Me” alongside Phillips and John Buck Wilkin, as well as “The Party Walk,” with Wilkin and Phillips.
Despite The Last Movie notoriously bombing with critics and fans alike, Kristofferson arrived in Peru as a songwriter and left as a rising screen star.
Related: ’70s Rocker, Discovered by Deep Purple, Was Murdered 39 Years Ago—and His Killer Walked Free
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