Mick Jagger – His romance with the movies

May 15, 2021 83 Comments

June 2002 By Philip Berk

In his new film, The Man from Elysian Fields, Mick Jagger plays the devil.

While in Los Angeles for his concert tour (with the Rolling Stones) he’s doing a bit of promotion for the movie.

As he enters the Grand Ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel, he looks a bit like the devil, wrinkled, prune like, slightly grotesque. But half way through the interview he’s transformed himself into the charismatic icon of rock ‘n roll and suddenly he’s handsome.

You’d think that after 40 years of headlining the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world, he’d be content with his lot.

But guess what, he wants to be an actor, not just any actor but someone nominated for an Academy Award. And he’s hired Hollywood’s top publicist to realize that ambition.

But don’t get your hopes up too high, Mick, it’s not likely to happen.

Still, there’s no getting away from the fact that he’s one of the most fascinating people in the world.

Next week he’ll be knighted by the Queen.

The lovely thing about him is he’s not only unpretentious, he’s good humored and delightful company. 

So where do you begin to interview an icon?

Well, let start with his music 

A quick run down of his greatest hits takes your breath away.

Surely the Rolling Stones has to be the greatest rock ‘n roll band of all time, Now approaching 60, neither he nor his band are slowing down.

Where does he get all that energy from? I ask him.

“I think you’re born with it. Some people are born with a lot of physical energy. Others prefer to take life as it comes. Musically speaking I’ve always had a lot of energy, which is what rock ‘n roll requires. I can’t do it without energy.”

40 years ago did he ever think rock ‘n roll would  be the dominant medium of music in the 21st century?

“In the early days nobody knew it was going to carry on. There were a lot of songs that say Rock and roll will never die. A lot of people worried that it was just a passing fad, but it’s still  a popular music form and like jazz it has had a long history. It’s got its critics, its soothsayers, its naysayers, its doomsayers. It’s everything that jazz was and is. If you say jazz started in 1920, then rock ‘n roll is now where jazz was in l970. Fifty years later it’s still a viable form of music. I think it’s relatively healthy and like jazz it will change. but I think it’s got a good healthy future.”   

But over the decades the Rolling Stones haven’t changed much, how come?

“That’s because we had a lot of roots in many forms of music, notably rhythm and blues when we played in clubs, and we’re still very much in touch with that. There have been times when we’ve forgotten about those roots, but for only a short duration. Essentially it’s r & b, but we do play other styles like country, blues, all kinds of stuff. We’ve never been a band that goes off stylistically and completely.  We always retain contact with our roots.”

Starting out, did they ever think they’d be around forty years later?

“We didn’t think our career would last, but we worked very hard at it, and we were lucky.”

Unlike other pop groups who’ve been one hit wonders?

“But pop music by its definition is a fast changing thing, and that’s the way it should be. It would be boring if every pop singer hung around for forty years. There wouldn’t be room for anybody. So it’s a good thing that pop stars are here for a year or two.”

Then jokingly he adds, “As long as it doesn’t include me.” 

He’s never written political songs, leaving that to the likes of Bob Dylan and John Lennon. Was that a conscious choice?

“The Rolling Stones is not a band that specializes in political commentary. We have done some songs along those lines, but they’re kinda hard to do. And you can’t do it in a three minute pop song. And sometimes by the time you’ve done it, it’s irrelevant. Even in film, it’s hard to do. Occasionally it works, like the one with Dustin Hoffman, Wag the Dog. That was great. But we don’t do that in popular culture very much.”

What they have done however is secure their dominance by never straying too far the world of the rich and famous.

In that respect Mick has carved a name for himself as a ladies man. 

In fact he’s almost as famous for his many conquests as he is for his hit records.

By the latest count, he has been married twice and has seven children with half a dozen other women.

How important are women in his life?

Facetiously he answers, “Women are important in everybody’s life, especially a woman’s life.”

But did he learn anything from them?

“You learn from everyone, and you can learn a lot from women. In the last fifty years men have learned a lot from women. Before that, they would ignore them, ignore their knowledge and sensibilities. Now they’re happy to learn from women. So that’s something that’s happened in the last two or three generations.”

Will he spending Christmas with his family including ex-wives and children?

“I guess there’ll be a lot of phone calls, to the ex-wife, the ex-ex-wife, you know, whatever.”

Is he he still close to all of them?

“I’m very close to them, and we’re discussing whether we are going to spend it in England or the Caribbean. It’s the same discussion we have every year. Hot or cold, en famille.”

Why the Caribbean?

“Besides the weather, it slows you down almost to a complete stop in a very short time. That’s what I like about it. Changing the batteries in your radio becomes the major project of the day. Life is more peaceful and slow paced there.”

His children range in age from thirty-two to three.

How often does he see them?

“I see them very often.”

Even the three year old?

“I see them as often as possible.”

Does he have a hand in their education?

“Their education is very important. The more children you have the better you get at learning how to educate them. But you have to educate then according to their own wishes and personalities rather than what  you think a good education is. You have to adapt to their needs?

Does he talk to their mothers about it?

“I think it’s a good idea to talk to their mothers.” 

In terms of life lessons, what is he teaching his children?

“It’s very hard to teach. You have to do so in bits and pieces. In the old day the father sat the son down and they had their one talk, even though the son knew all that already. So you have to kind of do it in little bits without appearing to teach.”

Does that apply for girls as well as boys?

(He has four daughters and three sons.)

“You have to treat each one as an individual.” 

Will he ever tire of touring?

“I really enjoy it. It’s very energizing. You never get bored. It’s very freeing. You don’t have to worry about getting anywhere or how long you’re staying there. Good, bad or indifferent, you’re onto the next one. I’m very passionate about it. Maybe there’ll be a day when I won’t want to do it. I don’t think about that. I just concentrate on what I’m doing this week.”

(At the moment he’s appearing at Staples Center in Los Angeles in sell-out performances that have received nothing but rave reviews.)

His working relationship with Keith Richards has been described as a dysfunctional marriage. Does he agree?

“Well it’s certainly been a long relationship. We’ve known each other since we were in school together. But there’s a difference between marriage and a partnership or a working relationship. Keith and I, our working relationship is really a friendship, unlike in a marriage where you don’t have a working relationship in which the two of you end up on stage together. So it’s completely different.” 

In his relationship to the the press, is he bothered when they write lies about him?

“You don’t like reading stuff about you that isn’t true. Sometimes the only way to stop them is to sue or threaten to sue. But if you’re in show business, you can’t expect people to not talk about you, and it becomes a problem for actors and singers because people can’t tell where the character begins and where the person leaves off.”

Is there still something he’d like to achieve, some goal he’s aiming at?

“There’s no one huge goal in my life that’s missing. There are a lot things. I’d like to write a bit more. If I wasn’t performing three or four times a week perhaps I’d write more. If I wasn’t so involved in music perhaps I would act more or produce more movies  or even not do any of these and try something else. But there isn’t one huge goal that is lacking.” 

He produced Enigma, which is one of the year’s best films. How hands-on was he?

“I was very involved in making that movie. It was a very long process. I acquired the rights to the book, I hired Tom Stoppard to write the screenplay, and then you go to get the money. Then you’ve got to find a director, and by the time you find the director you’ve lost the money,  and so it goes. But ultimately it was a very good group of people. Michael Apted signed on as director. I thought it was a good movie.”

Is he delighted to be honored by the Queen?

“It’s very nice to get accolades. You just sort of say,  ‘Thank you very much. But don’t be overly impressed.’ You take it with a nice smile and move on to the other life. In other words, don’t get too affected by it.”

And does he enjoy acting?

(He’s appeared in no less than  twelve films.)

“I am quite happy on a set. Some sets are happier than others.”

For the record he considers himself a good matchmaker, for others of course.

“Giving that advice to yourself is much more difficult.”

And his record proves it, no pun intended.

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