Rambo actors to take part in Hope’s First Blood 40th anniversary event - Chilliwack Progress

Patrick Stack and Stephen Chang will be coming to Hope this fall for the 40th anniversary celebration of Rambo: First Blood.

Events will be held over the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend, Oct. 7-10.

Both Stack and Chang acted in the film.

Stack played the role of Clinton Morgan, a lieutenant in the U.S. National Guard who leads a group of men in search of Rambo after he escapes police custody.

His character is one every fan talks about because of his humour and the bumbling comedy he brings to his scene in the movie,” said Brian McKinney, one of the organizers of Hope’s Rambo celebration. “He’s just as fun to talk to in person and the fans are going to love him.”

Stick is also known for roles on hit 1980s TV shows like Simon and Simon, Dynasty, Hardcastle and McCormick, The Greatest American Hero and Cheers.

“When we contacted him he was like, ‘You know what Brian? This sounds like a blast,’” McKinney said. “Patrick and his wife Louise are coming and we’ve convinced them to stay the entire weekend, arriving in town on Friday afternoon and leaving Monday.”

Chang played the role of a Viet Cong commander in a flashback scene where he is shown torturing Rambo, dragging a bayonet rifle blade across his chest.

Though his role in Rambo is brief, the Kung-Fu Grandmaster has a following among Rambo fans.

The family of Brian Dennehy is also making the trip to Hope.

While details are still being finalized, McKinney said at least two of his daughters and their husbands, plus one of his grandsons, will be here. The grandson, William, is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who plans to produce a film on the 40th anniversary.

“William has already flown to Toronto to speak with Ted Kotcheff, who directed Rambo: First Blood,” McKinney noted.

While Stack and Chang both played the roles of Rambo antagonists, no one was more opposed to the title character than Dennehy’s Will Teasle, the sheriff of the fictional town of Hope, WA.

Teasle was vindictive and prone to abusing his power, and when he decided that the scruffy-looking Vietnam vet didn’t belong in his town, he went too far. Teasle allowed police officers under his command to push Rambo to a breaking point, and chaos followed.