Rick Springfield steals 'Flash' rocker role
MARINA DEL REY, Calif. — Rick Springfield knew the odds of appearing alongside Meryl Streep in Ricki and the Flash were stacked against him.
Director Jonathan Demme acknowledges that he had two other leading candidates for the part of the Flash guitarist. Springfield almost blew off the audition but ultimately flew cross-country and plugged in all business-like to jam with three-time Oscar winner Streep.
"They didn't want some nervous guy up there going, 'Oh, my God, it's Meryl Streep,' " says Springfield. "I knew I had to break the ice. So I went to the mic and said, 'I just want everyone to know I'm about to jam with Meryl Streep.' "
The two have been making beautiful music ever since, as Streep and Demme were wowed by the former General Hospital heartthrob pop-immortalized with '80s hits such as Jessie's Girl (which topped Billboard's Hot 100) and Don't Talk to Strangers.
"From the moment (Streep and Springfield) looked at each other in character with guitars on, that was it," says Demme. "My two favorites went right out the window. Rick stole the part."
Springfield, 65, is counting on his role as Ricki's loyal love interest in Flash (in theaters Friday) to make the rest of the world realize there's more to him than classic oldies.
"The majority of people's memory of me is Jessie's Girl and bad soap-opera acting," says Springfield, who let his hair go gray and grew a full beard to disappear into his Flash character. "I didn't want Rick Springfield there. And they didn't want Rick Springfield."
On the set, Demme didn't allow Hollywood filming tricks such as playbacks, lip-syncing or fake guitar playing. Streep learned to play electric guitar while singing for camera. Springfield felt right at home, since he's never taken off the guitar strap, touring non-stop — including a fan concert aboard a ship cruising around Marina del Rey, where he talks just before taking the stage.
Fans inevitably get stoked and demand his signature Jessie's Girl.
"They'd find my body in the L.A. River if I didn't," says Springfield. "They'll probably play it at my funeral, but in a minor key because it's got to be sad. I'm proud to have written the song and the place it's taken. But it does overshadow other stuff I do."
That's changing. Springfield rode the Flash momentum to earn the part of freaky psychiatrist Irving Pitlor in HBO's True Detective. He cut and dyed his hair jet-black, colored his face orange and had his skin pulled back with hidden elastic bands to resemble plastic surgery.
"Friends called me to say, 'Dude, you so creeped me out.' Pitlor was just really weird," says Springfield. "People didn't know it was me until I took my glasses off or they heard my voice. As an actor, it's a great compliment."
Springfield chalks his resurgence up to persistence ("I've been out there doing my best whether people were watching or not") and deciding to try out with Streep after all.
"If I hadn't, I'd be sitting here saying, 'I really should have gone for that audition,' " says Springfield. "Hopefully, people see that this is a guy who can really do it. I'm OK with surprising people on the good side."