Meryl Streep Coached In Guitar By Neil Young For ‘Ricki And The Flash’ [Video]
Meryl Streep is currently on screen in her new movie Ricki And The Flash, and she recently told Jimmy Fallon that she had a 45-minute private guitar lesson with none other than veteran songster, Neil Young.
Fallon asked her if she knew how to play a guitar prior to making the movie. She said she hadn’t known how to play guitar but she could sing a little.
“I didn’t know how to play guitar, I have been singing for a long time, but not really rock ‘n’ roll, nobody asked me to. I had my first guitar lesson when I said I would do the movie.”
According to People, Meryl Streep went on to describe how Jonathan Demme, director of the movie, told her Neil Young would love to meet her and that he was sure he could persuade Young to give her a guitar lesson to help in her part as a rock star in the movie.
Speaking of her meeting with Young, Meryl said, “He gave me some advice. He saw all the amplifiers and cords and said ‘What is this s***?’.
“He said crank it up to 11. You’ve got to turn it up, turn it up loud.”
Meryl Streep also applauded her daughter, Mamie Gummer, who also stars in Ricki and the Flash, playing her onscreen offspring.
Neil Young gave Meryl Streep advice on being a rockstar https://t.co/rvgn3Tj4e7 pic.twitter.com/K0gRCbQSU1
— Fallon Tonight (@FallonTonight) August 4, 2015
In the movie, Meryl plays the lead role of a retired rock star, Ricki, who heads back home to try and build bridges with her children, one of which is Mamie, playing the part of Julie.
Meryl Streep also has three other children with husband Don Gummer.
The film also stars Rick Springfield and Kevin Klein, and at the world premiere of the film in New York City on August 3, Streep, 66, confessed that she was actually in awe of Mamie’s performance. She described Mamie as being “brave and fearless and funny and free.”
“She’s a free talent. It doesn’t have any cover-up – she’s the real deal.”
As for Mamie, 32, she and Meryl Streep are very close and she was worried that she might upset her famous mother, especially during some of the film’s more tense scenes.
“There’s this one scene where I really was quite eviscerating and I was worried about if my words actually wounded her, but after the first take, I looked over and she just had this big grin on her face, so that was a pleasant surprise. Luckily my co-star, she knows how to do that quite well!”
Speaking of the movie Ricki and The Flash, despite the stellar cast, the film opened to critical disappointment in the first weekend of its release.
[Featured photo by Theo Wargo/NBC / Getty Images Entertainment / Neil Young by Frazer Harrison / Getty Images Entertainment]
