Here’s How Rodney Hyden Performed His Own Reenactments for ‘The Legend of Cocaine Island’

Warning: Spoilers for The Legend of Cocaine Island ahead. (To be fair, you could have read these spoilers in the local Florida news circa 2012.)

When The Legend of Cocaine Island director Theo Love first reached to Rodney Hyden—a Florida businessman who was arrested in 2012 for his involvement in a bizarre treasure hunt tale—Hyden hesitated.

“I was a little skeptical,” Hyden, 61, said in a phone call with Decider earlier this week. “I didn’t know how it would turn out. I think the main thing I wanted was to get my side of the story out, because sometimes the story can be tilted.” 

It’s one of those stories that seems too wild to be true, and indeed many of the elements remain unverified. When Hyden got the call from Love, it had already been told several times: by local news back in 2012, by a GQ feature in 2017, by the Daily Mail in 2018. But this was Hyden’s first chance at a movie—something he’d been told he should do since the day he was arrested. “I think even one of the [Homeland Security] agents suggested, ‘This would be a good movie,'” he laughed.

So after a few more conversations with Love, Hyden was sold. The Legend of Cocaine Island—originally titled White Tide: The Legend of Culebra when it premiered Tribeca Film Festival in April 2018—dropped on Netflix on March 29, and it’s exactly as flashy as its new title makes it sound. The plot is this: Hyden, the president of a local construction company in Gainesville, hears a campfire story about a large quantity of cocaine buried in Culebra, Puerto Rico. With no previous experience in the drug world, Hyden has no clue how much cocaine is worth, but he knows it would help his wife Jamie and his daughter Emily recover from the 2008 financial crisis. With the encouragement of two mysterious drug dealers, “Dee” and “Carlos,” he attempts to uncover buried treasure.

He flies to the island twice in 2012, and fails to find the cocaine both times. (The first time he forgets to bring a shovel, and the second time he remembers his shovel, but the digging is too difficult.) He’s ready to give up, but then Carlos calls him up with a new proposal: If Hyden gives him a map to the cocaine, Carlos will get it, sell it, and bring Hyden the money. Hyden agrees. A few weeks later, he’s under arrest.

As it turns out, “Dee” was working with the police, hoping to shorten his own prison sentence, and “Carlos” was an undercover agent from Homeland Security. Hyden was facing a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison for attempted possession of cocaine, for which the jury finds him guilty, despite the fact that his lawyer argues entrapment. Thankfully, for Hyden, the judge on his case sentences him to only 60 days in jail, and five years of probation and five years of community service, at 20 hours a week.

Decider asked Hyden: Does the film tell the story accurately? “I think it was as close to the real deal as you could possibly get,” he replied. Was anything important left out? No, he said, and added that performing his own reenactments—Love’s idea—helped. “I didn’t want to critique somebody else playing me. I’d rather play me, because I know what went down. That way if something [strays] from the truth or the accuracy, I’m here to correct it.”

He was less jazzed about reenacting the scene where he attempts to dig up the cocaine: “I thought, you know, we’d recreate this, he’d see I can’t dig, and it’d be over, but I think we did over 50 takes on that scene! Digging in rock… I’d had enough of it. That wasn’t pretend, what you see, I was angry!” But overall, Hyden—who’s a natural on camera, despite his lack of experience—loved playing himself. “ I think we’re going to see more of that innovation [in documentaries],” he said. “It was a new experience for me and it was real fun.”

These days, life is good for Hyden, who lives with his family in Newberry, Florida. Business is booming at his construction company, BH Builders Inc., and he spends his spare time fishing with his grandchildren—two boys, 3 and 7,  from his wife’s first marriage. He completed his five-year-probation and community service one-and-a-half years early, though he still continues to work with Habitat for Humanity from time to time. “Every once in a while, I’ll do some things for them, administrative-wise,” he said. “But I don’t do 20 hours a week with them, I’ll tell you that.”

He’s also enjoying the attention he’s received from the film, which has earned him what he calls “new friends.” “I’ve had a lot of friend requests, people from all over. I’ve had people I know from Holland and Amsterdam, it’s really amazing. The social media I’m tapping into, to see what’s going on is blowing my mind.” He’s hopeful the doc may lead to more opportunities for him—but keeping tight-lipped on what that might be. “I’m not gonna discuss that yet. Hopefully, maybe one day.”

My last question for Hyden was on film’s provocative ending, which suggests that most of the supposed buried cocaine was never dug up—that the police never actually found it. Love ends his film with coordinates—an X marks the spot, and a clear invitation for viewers to go investigate for themselves. Hyden, however strongly advises against it. “If anybody’s smart, they better listen to the police when they advise you not to go down there looking for it.”

And yes, he does believe the cocaine is still out there—but he’s made his peace with not knowing. “Will I ever know? No. Do I ever wanna know? No.”

Stream The Legend of Cocaine Island on Netflix