"I think doing this movie and performing "Cherry Bomb" and doing the performance scenes is the closest I'll ever get to those dreams," said Fanning at the film's LA press day.
Fanning did her homework in order to play Cherie and she got to spend quality time with the real Cherie during filming. Capturing the group's Japan performance of "Cherry Bomb" was made that much easier by having so many resources readily available. "I think just watching the Live in Japan videos of Cherie and getting to know her, and realizing that especially "Cherry Bomb" is like a choreographed dance. She did the same thing each and every time and it was a routine. She did it without even thinking about it," explained Fanning. "So making that performance like that for me was really important."
Fanning admitted that having Joan Jett and Cherie Currie so involved in the film made her job much less difficult. "I think it becomes a lot easier and definitely the way I wanted it to be. And I was just really happy that both of them supported the film and liked making the film because I just think that would be really horrible if they didn’t, obviously."
The Music of The Runaways
She was born nearly two decades after The Runaways hit it big, so Fanning didn't grow up listening to Joan Jett or The Runaways. "I was familiar with Joan Jett," explained Fanning, "I didn't know who The Runaways were and I wasn't familiar with Cherie, as I think a lot of people our age are not familiar with The Runaways. Which is kind of weird now thinking back because they were like the first all girls rock 'n roll band."However, spending time getting to know the music and the women who paved the way for all the female groups that followed has had an impact on Fanning. "[...]I feel like when they become your friends, they just keep giving you stuff every day. I talk to Cherie a lot. She just says little things that kind of inspire me and I remember and are important to me. Something that relates to the movie is her sacrifice at the end of the film. She sacrificed everything that she loves and this career because she knows that she’s not going to make it much longer if she continues on this downward spiral and she’s not really equipped for the lifestyle that she’s been leading. So that just taught me a lot about what she gave up. I don't know if I could give it up when faced with that. She just was so courageous in that decision. That was really inspiring to me," said Fanning.
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The Runaways hits theaters in limited release on March 19, 2010 and wide release on April 9.
