 The music video for " Under the Bridge " was directed by Gus Van Sant , who photographed the band during their stay at The Mansion and provided the art direction for Blood Sugar Sex Magik . Van Sant knew Flea due to the bassist 's role in his 1991 film My Own Private Idaho . The members of the band respected Van Sant both as a person and an artist and were elated when he agreed to direct the video for " Under the Bridge " . Flea credits the video as " the thing that really made us break through the mainstream of American and worldwide pop culture " . 
