) That kind of encapsulates John Cash. |
[Long after shooting finished,] I remember my girlfriend saying, 'Why are you ...? Stop talking like that!' ... I was like, 'Like what?' |
[When Mangold chose Phoenix for the part,] I bought a guitar, ... John always had a guitar. He'd come offstage and there's footage of him sitting around talking to fans and he'll pick up a guitar and just start playing it. |
Because of all the scenes of him writing songs, it wouldn't work to have me singing the lines while he's writing, and then have his voice come out later onstage, |
Getting lost like that is my drive, |
He was an amazing man. He really ended up being the voice of the voiceless, the people that many would just as soon forget about or pretend they don't exist. John spoke up for them. He spoke from the heart with sheer honesty. He seemed to have no regrets, and that's unique, especially nowadays with celebrities, when everyone's so concerned about their image and saying the right thing to maintain their following. John said what he felt regardless of whether it was popular or not. |
He was really shaky, his hands were really shaky, |
He was strumming the guitar but he wouldn't sing, ... And he said, 'I'm waiting for June to get my nerve up.' I thought, 'How is Johnny Cash waiting for anybody to get his nerve up?' But he really needed her. ... They both were incomplete in some ways and when they were brought together, they felt completed. |
I didn't know much about him, and I wasn't a big country music fan. I listened to the Beatles and David Bowie, so I didn't know a lot about him. |
I didn't make a decision and say, 'I'm gonna sing.' It was, in some sense, 'Let's see what's gonna happen. Let's try this, let's work on this, and we'll see how it goes.' |
I don't know how it turned out, ... No, of course I care. I hope we captured the story authentically. But what keeps me acting is not the end result but the process. And I was very satisfied with the process. |
I don't know if you've noticed but I've messed up like 40 times. I'm all over the place. |
I got out of the car and I said thank you. And he was gone. |
I know you guys would probably rather see Reese [Witherspoon ]. |
I remember being real concerned about the music and singing -- that's something we were both concerned about -- and Jim said if people want to hear Johnny Cash, they can get a Johnny Cash record, he's made a few. |