BTS of ‘Lords of Dogtown’ with Heath Ledger (Video)

Originally posted on SURFER | By Dashel Pierson | Last updated May 13, 2025 9:11 PM ET

In 2001, the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys memorialized the ratty, revolutionary surfing and skateboarding from the infamous Zephyr team out of Venice Beach, California. Guys like Jay Adams, Tony Alva, and Stacy Peralta were innovative in their approach – mainly on skateboards, but in the water, too – and their impact on the sports was commemorated on the big screen.

Then, the story was recreated in a biopic, of sorts, with 2005’s Lords of Dogtown. The film brought the characters to life, with Hollywood actors portraying the roles – Emile Hirsch as Jay Adams, Heath Ledger as Zephyr co-founder Skip Englbom, etc. As with a lot of things, the (sorta) sequel wasn’t as good as the original, but it was a bit of fun. And keeping things authentic, Peralta, who made the documentary, was brought on to write the screenplay.

In the film, they recreated the iconic locations from the time. Particularly, there’s a surf scene at the old P.O.P. (Pacific Ocean Park). And they needed stunt doubles to come in and ride the psychedelic single fins, and don the beaver tail wetsuits. That’s where former Z-Boy and LA surf legend Allen Sarlo came in. Below, check out Sarlo behind the scenes with Ledger, talking about the old days.

“Stacy [Peralta] and I were really best friends in high school,” Sarlo explained. “I was working and going to college. As a result, I had a small part. My dad was a lifeguard in Santa Monica, and my dad was also a Culver City cop. So, he helped get the surfing area in Santa Monica. It just happened to be at Bicknell [Avenue] – there used to be a designated surfing area in the summer. Surfing only.”

Sarlo, now seen today regulating the lineup at Malibu regularly, was at the time part of the Zephyr surf team. He was there for all of it, hence why they brought him on to stunt-double in the surf scenes of Lords of Dogtown. Reflecting on back in the day, Sarlo continued:

“Jeff Ho, he was a visionary. He could see where we were going. I was just a kid. I was just a competitive surfer. I was on the skateboard team, but I was more on the surf team. I won all the amateur contests during that time period. Skip Englbom coached me. Skipper and Jeff coached me as a young, amateur surfer. They gave me a lot of insights. They made my surfboards, taught me about style, how to hold my hands…it was pretty cool.”

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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