Superstar rocker, actor and author Rick Springfield is starring in the spectacular and enchanting new hit film “Ricki and the Flash,” which also stars Meryl Streep, Mamie Gummer (Streep’s real-life daughter) and Kevin Kline.
One of the most delicate and heartfelt performances is that of Greg, Ricki’s sweet and generous guitarist boyfriend, soulfully portrayed by Springfield. Each and every word he delivered in the film was packed with sensitivity, love and true emotion.
I was once again honored to speak with Rick about the movie as well as some touching subjects that affect us all.
I feel like the role of Greg was custom made for you. What is your take on that?
Yeah, definitely. There are a lot of elements that I can use. He’s a nicer guy than I am, but I do understand.
By the way, that was the best performance I have ever seen you do, and believe me, I’ve watched every episode of “General Hospital.”
Having great writing really helps. The script is a great script. It all starts with the writing.
Do you have a favorite scene in the movie?
I like the bit where we’re playing “Let’s Get Together,” where I play guitar. We all kind of clicked.
Did you get to coach Meryl on her guitar playing?
Well, she asked a couple of things when we were filming – how to hold it, which looks more real – but basically she nailed it.
The character that you played, Greg, I thought was really well developed; however, I wanted more. I was wondering if you thought there might be a sequel?
That would be a question for people other than me. We all hope for a successful movie.
So in the movie there was a scene in which Ricki’s son called her homophobic. Get Out! is a primarily gay magazine, so I was wondering what is your opinion on gay marriages?
I am a big believer in everybody getting on with their lives and doing what they want to do. I didn’t really believe for a long time in heterosexual marriages. It took me a while to get into the whole thing and understand what it was about. So what’s the point of getting a piece of paper that says you can now have a baby without people calling it a bastard? What was that all about? Once I got into marriage, I realized that there is a point to it. It is a commitment, and you’re basically shutting the exit door. I always had my foot in the exit door. Marriage kind of closed that door. I understand that, and that kind of happens with everybody. You know, I’ve had a lot of gay friends. I’ve had gay managers. I’ve been around gay people all my life, so it’s not like a weird thing. I’ve seen them together, and it’s just a normal part of a relationship. I think the politicizing of it is the part I didn’t like. The politicizing of anything, I’ve never believed in. Extremism is never good for anybody, especially for the faction it supposedly represents. So I mean, vote for everybody being their best self and being allowed to live their lives in freedom. That’s basically, I guess, the ultimate belief. Everybody deserves to live their life without persecution and without fear and without trepidation. A gay friend of mine died recently. It was a very gay-oriented service, because they had trouble finding a church where they were allowing basically an openly gay service. Then I got up to speak, and there was a lot of tension, so I walk down the hall and said, “He was gay?” They all started laughing. But Ricki was not homophobic. She was from the ‘60s and ‘70s, and it takes a while to understand that her son is truly gay. She thought he was bisexual. But I think she’s really very loving. And at the wedding in the end, she met his boyfriend, and she was totally cool with that. Again, there is way more tension about being gay now than there was. It’s gone into a political arena now. … There’s been TV shows on about it for years, and now they won’t talk about it.
No, I didn’t think she was homophobic, either. I was actually surprised at the line.
I think the character was just trying to hurt her because he was angry.
So in any case, what is your next move? I know that you were still touring.
Yeah, I have a summer tour with Loverboy and the Romantics. I have a video and record coming out by the end of the year.
I’ll be looking forward to that. Thank you for your time and for speaking with me.
Great questions too, and we talked about other things, and I appreciate it.
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