Best known as a three-time Bill S. Preston, Esq. in the fan-favorite Bill & Ted film franchise, actor/director Alex Winter has returned to news headlines in recent weeks with the forthcoming arrival of his Frank Zappa documentary, Zappa, due for a digital/video-on-demand release on November 27th. On Wednesday, Winter appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to talk about a range of topics, from Zappa to the recently-released Bill & Ted Face The Music.

While Alex will always be tied lovingly to his role in the three Bill & Ted films, Kimmel was quick to point out that he has a much longer resume as a director, having even directed on Kimmel’s show for a time.

As Winter explained, “I came in, I think, to do a movie parody and I didn’t leave for a while [laughs]. … It was like a year or so, at least.”

After reminiscing on some of the hard-hitting pieces he directed during his time with the show—including “Monkey in a Microwave,” “Terrorist in Surfer Shorts,” “Clown Hunting,” “Crazy Ahab’s One-Day Rehab,” “Matzo Ball Drops On Times Square,” “Tron Guy Has A Date,” “Martha Stewart Saws Off Her Ankle Bracelet,” and more—Winter recalled a story about how he lost Mr. T while directing him for the movie, Freaked.

From there, the conversation moved toward Frank Zappa, as Winter explained, “Growing up, for us… I discovered him on SNL in the ’70s. As much as he was a rock god, he was also like a George Carlin or Richard Pryor. He was super funny, very politically active, really fascinating…”

“And a genius,” Kimmel interjected. “Not just a musical genius, but just… eccentric genius.”

“Yeah,” Winter agreed. “He made films, he made art, there was really nothing he couldn’t do well, but his story hadn’t been told. So I pitched it to his widow, Gail, and they gave me access to his entire vault, which was like the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, just floor-to-ceiling stuff as far as you can see. We raised about a million-and-a-quarter [from a Kickstarter campaign] and we preserved a lot of the media down there. We have like ten thousand rabid backers out there waiting for the movie, took us six years to make it, and it was a trip.”

Watch Frank Zappa Explain The Origins Of The Mothers To A Finnish TV Reporter In 1974 [Full Video]

When asked about whether he saw anything he wished he hadn’t in Zappa’s vault, Winter said with a chuckle, “Well… Every day we found something, but when you’re making a movie about a guy who’s at the forefront of the sexual revolution, umm, some of that media you don’t want to see. I would call the family and I’d be like ‘I’ve got this’ [and] they’re like, ‘Please, don’t… we don’t ever need to see that.’ I’m like okay, putting that back on the shelf. I can’t unsee it, I saw it.” Quipped Kimmel, “Imagine how his kids must feel!”

“Jimmy, I think you’ll love it. This is a guy who was at the forefront of voting rights and anti-authoritarian and fighting the senate for censorship. We could use him right now.” Watch the full interview below, and scroll down to check out the trailer for the Alex Winter Zappa doc, out next Friday.

Alex Winter Talks Frank Zappa Documentary, Bill & Ted 3 – Jimmy Kimmel Live!

[Video: Jimmy Kimmel Live]

Zappa – Official Trailer

[Video: Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing]