By Robert Sims, Special to TheMovieKit.com
Underage and over the top, The Runaways proved that women could just as easily enjoy the excesses of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Led by singer Cherie Currie and guitarist Joan Jett, The Runaways exploded with the 1976 hit single “Cherry Bomb” and demonstrated that an all-girl teenage band could rock just as hard and partake in self-destructive behavior as any of their male counterparts. Currie left after three albums to pursue a solo and an acting career in such films as Foxes and The Twilight Zone: The Movie, and The Runaways fell apart soon after.
New Moon costars Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart portray Currie and Jett, respectively, in The Runaways, director Floria Sigismondi’s recount of the band’s rise and fall.
At a Q&A following the SXSW screening of The Runaways, Fanning and Stewart joined Currie to talk about turning The Runaways’ cautionary tale into a film.
Step 1: Tell the story from the perspective of singer Cherie Currie and guitarist Joan Jett
Floria Sigismondi: “When I got the call, they had already gotten the rights to Cherie, Joan and Kim [Fowley, The Runaways’ brilliant but manipulative producer] and Sandy [West, the band’s late drummer], and the other girls didn’t want to be involved. So that’s who I had to work with. Meeting them, they were nicknamed Salt and Pepper, and I was just really drawn to the two of them as the main story. So I mostly focused on the two of them. Just working with the ideas, and everything that had happened, I knew what would stick and what wouldn’t just by the story I wanted to tell, which is basically their friendship in this world and how different they are and how they came together and how special that was.”
Step 2: Know what to edit and condense
Sigismondi: “It was a rollercoaster. I was dancing all kinds of lines of what was important and what could the story possibly live without. It’s hard to capture someone’s life in an hour and 40 minutes, never mind their relationships. It’s more than just one life; you’ve got many other people’s lives. You’ve got real people, still alive. You’ve got fans looking at it in a different way. It’s just finding that line of what characterizes them more than the actual events.”
Step 3: Brush up on rock history
Dakota Fanning: “A lot of people my and Kristen’s age and generation aren’t really familiar with The Runaways. So when I read [the script] I immediately went on YouTube and looked at the Live in Japan videos, and specifically of the band performing ‘Cherry Bomb’ and I watched Cherrie performing ‘Cherry Bomb.’ I think that moment was when I realized that I wanted to do that. When I had my initial meeting to do that, I don’t think I would have been the first person people would have thought to do this role just because people think of me as a lot younger just because I’ve been acting for a long time. I’m really lucky that Floria and everyone believe in me that I could to do it and I hope that I did. So I think watching that video I really drawn to it and I wanted to do something different than I’ve before and that’s what I love about being an actor, being able to transform yourself.”
Kristen Stewart: “I said yes as soon as someone said they’re making a movie with Joan Jett and that’s one of the parts. I said, ‘Yes, totally, I’ll play it.’ There’s a million reasons you do a movie. You make an impulsive decision about something that moves you or whatever and realize what an insane responsibility you now have. Then you want to pass out. I didn’t know about The Runaways, that was mainly the thing, and it’s nice to be able to deliver that story to people our age because they should know. I got to know Joan really well, and I realized there’s a lot more to her than I saw. I really liked Joan.”
Step 4: Already know how to play the guitar
Stewart: “I did, thank God because I only had two weeks to learn songs because we finished New Moon very close to the start of the movie.”
Step 5: Get the moves right
Fanning: “During those two weeks we had band rehearsals and all of the Runaways girls got together and got to know each other and got used to being onstage together. For me, I had to sing the songs, so I had a few voice lessons and I worked with Cherie on the songs. Also, performing ‘Cherry Bomb’ was a really big deal to me and I wanted to do it exactly right. I had to practice that as well.”
Stewart: “We both had Joan and Cherrie by our side all the time. Both of them were telling us they would leave us alone as soon as we didn’t want them to be around anymore. We were telling them that as soon as we overstep boundaries or whatever we will not do that. We could to talk to them. We learned how to play and we got to talk to them about stuff.”
Step 6: Forget your fear of singing
Fanning: “That was one of the trepidations I had about doing it just because I have never thought of myself as a singer…. So when I knew I had to sing, I was really nervous about that I was self-conscious and scared. I found that the only way I can do it is if I’m playing someone else, and if I’m hiding behind a character. So Cherrie, that costume, and all that gave me the strength to be able to do it.”
Step 7: Watch Foxes
Sigismondi: “I looked at that. It was the closest thing I could get to [CC’s] face at that age, so I definitely looked at that. And I think … it’s the closet thing to [CC’s] personality to the person that [she] was at the time.
Cherie Currie: Annie was really me. I started that film right off the heels of The Runways, and I actually told Dakota—because right then, I wasn’t boisterous and in your face like I am now that I’m old. But I told Dakota to look at Foxes because that was where I really was. Annie was me. I don’t know how to act.”
Step 8: Enjoy the experience
Curie: “I’ve been working with Joan since Floria wrote the script…. It’s a dream come true. We got to go into the recording studio to record together for the first time in 35 years. It was as if time stood still. We’ve got so much to be grateful for.”