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SXSW Film: Notes from The Runaways Roundtable with Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart and Director Floria Sigismondi
Based on Currie's memoir, Neon Angel, The Runaways charts the short life and strong bond of the teenage, all-American, 100 percent female rock band that Currie fronted and Joan Jett started back in 1970s Los Angeles. The film is music video director Floria Sigismondi's first feature and screened as a SxSW Headliner on Thursday before it's theatrical release this weekend.
If you have seen a music biopic, you have seen this film: one girl is getting all the publicity...OMG, she needs to get her shiz together before she becomes a drug-addled whore...wait, is the band breaking up...oh, look, an eyeliner-cool montage! Sigismondi does manage to bring some great style to the film—it looks, feels, and sounds sexy. What you haven't seen here are the rock star performances. Fanning and Kristen Stewart are captivating as "salt 'n pepper" duo Currie and Jett. Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road) stars as eccentric music producer Kim Fowley and is, as always, a stand-out. You want to befriend and slowly back away from Shannon's Fowley all at once (come to think of it, you can actually say that about most of Shannon's roles).
We joined Fanning, Stewart, and Sigismondi for a roundtable interview where we didn't hesitate to ask Fanning about the experience of getting all sexed up for this film. At the premiere, Fanning had mentioned having a lot of trepidation about actually singing the songs—it's one thing that can make her extremely nervous. So did she have any trepidation donning Cherie's famous corset and walking out on set in what someone from another century might call a pink panty girdle? "I was most excited about wearing that, actually," Fanning said before breaking out into laughter with Stewart. "I really loved the corset because it was exactly like the one she wore in Japan...it was when I felt the most like Cherie, the most in character."
Speaking of character, Stewart had a great sense of admiration for Joan Jett. "I love Joan," she said at the post-screening Q&A in that quiet, sheepish way that has become her red carpet trademark. She elaborated at the roundtable: "To a T—the most I've ever seen anyone be comfortable with themselves, even though she's shy." An interesting comment, given that Sigismondi had touched on this before Stewart entered the room. She had first thought of casting Stewart after seeing her in Into the Wild because there was a presence, a "tough, shy quality about her" that reminded Sigimondi of Jett.
When it came to casting, we were most curious about how Michael Shannon got involved and asked Sigismondi if she specifically sought him out. Turns out she did and she considered his casting "a coup". "It was so wordy—his dialogue—and in the wrong mouth, my God, it would have been awful. He really kind of played it, I thought, in a way that was menacing and funny and condescending..."
Sigismondi had some gray area to work through as far as getting the rights to portray people's lives on screen. "It was politically challenging as soon as I walked in," she said, before mentioning the "fine line of people's feelings, fan's recollections, and authenticity." Another hot topic was the film's rating. "If this was a PG movie, I would have been completely unfaithful to The Runaways and these girls...It was very important for Cherie's arc. You can't have a fall without all that other stuff."
Cherie's arc includes the dangerous side effects of shooting to fame, like crushing some pills up with your gigantic stiletto heel and leaning down to the floor to snort it all up. On whether or not they personally identified with The Runaways being thrust in the spotlight given their own Hollywood status, Stewart said, "I think they sought out their fame so aggressively that it was completely not thrust upon them at all. It was such an exciting thing." Fanning added, "Also, back then, you had to do something really important to become famous and that's what you wanted. And now, I feel like you can do anything and become famous."
The Runaways are pretty much unknown to younger geneartions; Fanning and Stewart do not hide the fact that they had to go straight to YouTube when they read the script to get their first taste of the band. This is something Stewart finds pretty upsetting, but, fortunately, this film will bring due respect to the girls that paved the way for women to rock out and be taken seriously.
YouTube clips and performance videos in general were integral to Fanning's performance. Specifically citing "Cherry Bomb", Fanning mentioned that Currie performed the song the same way every time she sang it. Whether it was suggestively bending over during the "daddy, mom" line or swinging the microphone around her leg like a pro (a move Fanning showed off at the Paramount—just like riding a bike, apparently), it was important to her to perfect that delivery. Fanning said, "I did want it to become so ingrained in my body that I didn't have to think about it, because that's how it became for her. It did get to the point where I would start and finish and not remember how I got there, which was actually pretty exciting."
So when it all comes to an end, why is it that these rock and roll band tales always seem to end on a similar track? The drugs, the downfall, the breakup. "I think the ending is inspirational," said Sigismondi. "I don't think it's a down ending at all. I think Cherie's story is very inspirational. She was looking to herself."
