Michael Shannon sounds off on his controversial character in 'The Runaways'

Michael Shannon at the New York City press junket for "The Runaways"

They say that behind every great rock band lies a ruthless manager. For the groundbreaking all-female rock band the Runaways, that manager was Kim Fowley, who was also the group’s first record producer. Fowley is credited with helping put together the Runaways (a group of teenager rockers that formed in 1975 and broke up in 1979), getting them a record deal, and co-writing their biggest hits. And although Fowley split with the Runaways before the group disbanded and he has worked with several other artists, he remains an important part of the Runaways’ history. That history is told in part on the big screen in "The Runaways," whose cast includes Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon as Fowley.

"The Runaways" movie (written and directed by Floria Sigismondi) is based on "Neon Angel," the memoir written by former Runaways lead singer Cherie Currie, who quit the band at the height of its fame. Other Runaways alumni include Joan Jett (an executive producer of "The Runaways" movie) and Lita Ford. By many accounts, including Currie’s, Fowley was an abusive and difficult manager who manipulated people to get what he wanted. Other people say that he was a charismatic visionary who helped make people’s dreams come true. Whatever people’s opinions are of the real Fowley, it’s undeniable that Shannon potrays him as an unforgettable character in "The Runaways" movie. I caught up with Shannon at "The Runaways" press junket in New York City about what it was like to play such a controversial figure in rock’n’roll.

Kim Fowley and Michael Shannon at the Los Angeles premiere of "The Runaways"

How much have you interacted with Kim Fowley?

I met him the first day that I was on ["The Runaways"] set. At the end of the day, Kristen [Stewart, who plays Joan Jett in the movie] and Joan [Jett] were like, "You still haven’t met Kim, have you?" "No, I haven’t." "Well, it seems like you should." "Yeah, I probably should." So they set up this dinner. We met at this Denny’s out in the [San Fernando] Valley, and we sat down and Kim came. He told me about his life. He brought out all these pictures and clippings and stuff. He told me a lot about his childhood and his parents, growing up.

The thing about Kim is for the image that he shows the world now, he was actually kind of a lonely, sensitive child. He had polio twice when he was a kid. I don’t think he had many friends or anything. His parents were very wrapped in their own thing and didn’t pay much attention to him. I feel like a lot of the way he is now today is a reaction to that. They say a lot of times when you lose your childhood due to illnesses and things like that, you try to get it back when you’re older. So maybe that’s the way his formative years made him the way he is now.

So it was the end of [my] first day [on "The Runaways" set]. I had shot one scene. Before that, I had been watching footage of him, an interview he did on the Tom Snyder show. I just watched that over and over.

Did meeting Kim change your performance at all?

Not hugely. No. I mean, it’s interesting. If anything, it made me feel more of a sense of obligation trying to get it right, but it wasn’t like I was trying to perform at him. He just told me, "This is how people will remember me when I’m dead — from this movie, so get it right." He was kind of kidding.

Michael Shannon in "The Runaways"

When you’re portraying a larger-than-life personality like Kim Fowley, how do you keep the performance from veering into caricature?

Is he larger than life? He’s alive. He’s a live person. He’s a real person. I can’t just go and do whatever I want. I’m trying to be him, so he’s a specific person. So really it’s all in the details and trying to get the way he moves and the way he talks, his personality. And that requires a lot of concentration, actually. It’s not maybe as fun as it looks. It’s actually a lot harder to do something like that than to play somebody who’s like a businessman or something. Then you can just kind of there and go, "Yes, the report looks good."

I guess it was challenging. But the term "larger than life" is a term I don’t really understand, because if you meet [Kim Fowley], that’s the way he is. That’s the way he’s been. He is a large guy. He’s very tall. He has very long arms. He likes to surprise people and keep them on edge. He’ll be talking to you and all of sudden, he’ll just go like this [he makes a startling facial expression and hand gestures]. That’s just what he does. That’s who he is.

What music had a profound effect on you when you were coming of age? What are your memories of the time period in which the Runaways existed?

I loved that era. A lot of times when people ask me that question, "Where would you like to be if you could be anywhere in history, place, era or whatever?" I pick New York City in the late ‘70s. People think I’m crazy, and maybe I don’t have as much information as I should. When I finally did start coming to New York, I finally sheepishly walked past CBGB’s, and I finally broke down and went in there one night, and it was just not the same. It was like a bunch of kids from New Jersey playing metal or something. It wasn’t what I had in mind, but it was just amazing to stand in the place.

My [favorite] band was the Talking Heads. That was the band in high school that I worshipped. I guess we all kind of worshipped the band in high school. And I loved all the bands of that era. I wasn’t as familiar with the L.A. punk scene, although I am now, definitely. I like it, too. I love the Runaways, the Germs, X. I’m big into the Minutemen.

Michael Shannon at the New York City premiere of "The Runaways"

How familiar were you with the Runaways’ music before you did the movie?

I was familiar with Joan Jett’s music and a couple of Runaways songs. I had never had a Runaways album. I do now. I went out and bought them all, and started listening to them, for research more than anything.

When we showed the movie at [the 2010] Sundance [Film Festival], Joan put on a concert, and it was amazing. It was packed. It was the most crowded thing I went to at Sundance. You couldn’t even move. Everybody was just rocking out. I was standing up in the balcony in the VIP section, and this woman standing next to me with long hair was going nuts. And I was like, "That’s Catherine Keener!" She [Catherine Keener] was going completely apesh*t, just rocking out. I had fun watching the movie, but that was the highlight, for me, at the festival.

Can you talk about the scene in "The Runaways" when the band finds out that Kim said derogatory things about them in an interview?

That’s based on an actual interview, yeah. The other thing is that the "real life" department was very well-represented on set. The movie is based on a book that Cherie [Currie] wrote. Joan was there, pretty much every day. Cherie was there, probably 75 percent of the days I was there. I think it was pretty authentic. I’m never sure if it was the whole story, but there’s nothing made up. I think I saw that actual interview in the magazine. They had an actual copy of it.

Cast members and filmmakers at the Los Angeles premiere of "The Runaways"

Michael Shannon is pictured in the front. Pictured in the back row, from left to right: "The Runaways" producer/Apparition co-founder Bill Pohlad, "The Runaways" writer/director Floria Sigismondi, actress Stella Maeve, Joan Jett, actress Kristen Stewart, actress Dakota Fanning, Cherie Currie and Apparation CEO/co-founder Bob Berney.

What were the reactions of Joan Jett and Cherie Currie when they saw you as Kim Fowley for the first time?

They dug it. For Cherie, it was a little creepy. I think Joan and Kim have kind of made peace with one another a little bit more than Cherie and Kim have. But they never said something like, "Oh, you’re not getting it right" or "You’re just terrible." They were always very supportive. I think at one point Joan said to me, "I don’t think anybody could get it all the way right, but you’re getting it as right as anybody could." Because it’s true. It’s impossible to capture this guy. He’s so strange.

What do you think was Kim’s real opinion of the Runaways? Did he think they were the real deal or were they just a novelty act to him?

I think he was pretty passionate about them. Kim was into music for a long time, even before he helped form that band [the Runaways], he’d been producing, writing, performing music for decades. And obviously, he’s not a household name. So anybody who does that must really love music. If he wanted to just get rich or get famous, he would’ve done something else.

I think he believed in the music. He helped write some of the [Runaways] songs. I think they excited him. It’s hard to tell, because he turned around and pretty much left right after [the Runaways] started … Maybe he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t like to get too attached to something. That’s possible, too.

I have a CD at home of him working with, like, 25 different artists. And every song sounds different. Some of them he sings on, some of them he writes, and some he produces. Maybe he’s just a person who thrives on variety. He doesn’t want to wake up and do the same thing every day.

Dakota Fanning and Michael Shannon in "The Runaways"

Kim Fowley treated the Runaways pretty harshly, but there must have been something likable about him for the band to want to work with him. Do you think at any point he was kind of like father figure to anyone in the band?

He’s not a goody-two shoes, let’s face. Beyond that, I don’t really know. The thing about it, it’s incredibly difficult to be a rock’n’roll band. Not anybody can just walk out on stage and just sing and play guitar and have anybody care. To be a rock’n’roll band, you have to be very powerful. You have to generate an incredible amount of power, so that took some very rigorous training from Kim. That’s what he gave them.

I look at it as more of paramilitary thing than as a paternal thing. I think it’s the way he looks at it: It’s a war, particularly in that era and the music that was popular at the time. The odds were pretty low that it would be successful, so it was going to take a lot of work.

Can you talk about your upcoming projects?

I’m shooting a TV show for HBO called "Boardwalk Empire." And I have few other movies I’ve been involved with that may come out soon. "The Greatest" is coming out in April. And movie called "13." And I’m in this film called "Jonah Hex" that I think will come out this summer.

"The Runaways" producer/Apparition co-founder Bill Pohlad, Joan Jett, Michael Shannon and Apparition CEO/co-founder Bob Berney at the Los Angeles premiere of "The Runaways"

What was it like working with "Boardwalk Empire" director/executive producer Martin Scorsese?

It was wonderful to watch him work with the camera. It’s one of the things I enjoy, more than any interpersonal thing that we had. I just loved watching him compose his shots and deal with camera movement and blocking. There’s a lot of big group scenes. It wasn’t like we spent a lot of time talking about my character, because he was, on average, dealing with a hundred people running around. He had to orchestrate these massive pictures.

You had to wear a lot of glam-rock makeup in "The Runaways." How did you feel about that?

I don’t like to wear eyeliner. I wouldn’t do it [in my personal life]. I can’t put it on, personally, by myself. It was always a weird thing, too, with the makeup. [Kim Fowley] wore makeup sometimes, and sometimes, he didn’t. He didn’t want to seem too glammy. It always looked really interesting. We kind of went back and forth on it. I feel we had the right balance, when I see the movie, because there are scenes where I’m not wearing any makeup. It would be dishonest to say he wears makeup all the time, because he doesn’t.

Photo credits: Photo #1: Carla Hay. Photos #3, 6: Apparition. All other photos: Getty Images.