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Here they go again: We speak with ‘Mamma Mia 2’ cast members
Los Angeles — Our first time visiting in Stockholm, Sweden involved interviewing the legendary Swedish pop group ABBA and the amazing cast of the sequel to Mamma Mia.
The beautiful sunny weather was just the perfect setting for the joyous songs of the popular music group originally composed of Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
We talked to Bjorn and Benny (the ladies were not available) and they shared their thoughts of having a sequel to the musical hit as well as the secret of their long-time friendship.
From the cast of the Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, we were able to chat with Amanda Seyfried (Sophie Sheridan), Lily James (young Donna), Stellan Skarsgard (Bill Anderson), Pierce Brosnan (Sam Carmichael) and Cher (Ruby Sheridan, Donna’s mother and Sophie’s grandmother).
Below are excerpts of our conversations with them:
Amanda Seyfried
On doing the sequel:
Do you know what's so crazy? I was like, they're not going to make a Mamma Mia 2, that's crazy, because what the hell would we do? What songs would be used?
But Abba's catalog is extensive and the idea for Mamma Mia 2 was perfect. There aren’t many options; there aren't many ways to go. The genius idea that we were going to go Godfather with it — go from the beginning and go back and get some context — was really smart.
And I'm like, well where do I fit in? What’s happening with Sophie? They created a great story out of it. I had just had a baby and Sophie's pregnant. I was like, this is crazy, this is very timely. This is the perfect timing for this to happen. Ten years is a long time. I don't think we could wait that long for Mamma Mia 3 if we did one. That would just be ridiculous.
On whether she shares secrets with her mom and who she considers her "aunts":
No, I wish I did. My daughter will have so many. In fact the two ladies from the original Mamma Mia, who were my best friends are still my best friends, they are those aunts to my daughter.
But I didn't have…no, it's funny, my mom, I was the second child so she was so busy running around, working and taking care of us that she didn't have a lot of time for herself, which is really sad to think about.
But in terms of secrets, (Laughs) no, it's the boring but true answer. I remember the first time I saw her cry. It was a secret she didn't want anyone to see. That's just really depressing. But now we have lots together. She lives with us and she's my right hand man. So things have changed and evolved over time. But the relationship between Donna and Sophie really is rare and special.
On what motherhood has taught her about herself now that she has a daughter:
Motherhood has taught me that there are many things…I am made up of many components that are not helpful to my growth and in teaching her how to respect yourself and how to get to know herself and giving her a space to grow.
There were some things that I just don't need to hold onto anymore, the need for approval I'm so desperate for, or I was growing up for whatever reason. I'm not as worried about what people think of me and I'm less worried about taking care of others when my priorities are so clear. They've never been clearer. Motherhood does that to you very quickly.
As soon as you become pregnant, you realize that your life really isn't yours anymore. But in a good way. I've evolved really quickly in some ways since she came into my life. I'm grateful and I feel like she's really done that for me. I know what's important. My values are so much clearer. My essence hasn't changed, but the present has changed. Every day weighs more. It's harder to travel.
I got an infection in my eye I think because I was anticipating leaving her for nine days. I swear that's why. I've never had anything like this before. Traveling, I love it; I love talking about the movie. I love the movie. I think it's better than the first one, I truly do. But her not being able to experience all this means like… it sucks, but it's fine. I'm enjoying it as much as I can with this very physical reminder.
On how her own relationship to her mom changed:
Yes, so much. My mom is our nanny. So she retired from working in a hospital. She was an occupational therapist, so she retired. She follows us everywhere. We live on a farm and we live in L.A. and we go back and forth together. We'd gotten really close.
I really appreciate how hard she worked as a mother. I had my dad around, but she was more like a single mom. She took care of everything. I can't imagine doing that. I can't imagine what Donna had to go through with Sophie being on her own. That's the bravest thing that anyone can do, raise a child alone. I don't think I could do that. I know I could do it if I have to, but I don't have to. I find it really hard to imagine life like that.
So there's no end to how much I appreciate my mom, what she did for us when we're kids and growing up, being supportive without meddling, being there without being a helicopter parent, letting us thrive. It's hard for me to get annoyed when she feeds my daughter pork chops from the deli, you know what I mean? I can't really get annoyed with her because she's doing her best and she's taking care of my daughter. It's amazing.
Lily James
On bonding with the senior actors:
It was amazing to get to spend time with them all. When you're shooting on location, it's a gift because you don't go home at the end of work and retreat to your own flat. Suddenly you're going for dinners and you're getting to spend time with people and you really become a family.
That's unique, especially on an island in the middle of the Adriatic Sea, (laughs) it doesn't happen. Christine Baranski (who portrays Tanya Chesham-Leigh) was amazing in rehearsals and we were doing, “When I Kiss the Teacher” and the Dynamos had these fake platform ABBA boots taped to our legs. We were sweating and we were hot. We weren't sure we were nailing it. She came in; she snuck in and she watched the rehearsal.
At the end, she just started clapping and she was so generous. She gave her heart to us. She was like, you're doing a great job, you know, you're perfect as The Dynamos. Having that seal of approval from her right near the start meant the world to us. So they were all incredibly generous and supportive and wanted to share the film with us, wanted to share the characters. There was a sense of collaboration.
On singing ABBA songs:
I genuinely listened and danced to ABBA as a small kid. My Dad introduced me to them. I then went and saw the stage production, which is because of ABBA and fell in love with the music and have been singing it since I was a kid that my brothers kept telling me to shut up because it would be on repeat.
So it was a part of me. When I got it and my mom and my brothers were kind of like, oh yeah, that makes sense. So I guess that the songs were in me. Beyond that Amanda and I both have, because I just love Amanda's voice so much, I watched her as the original Sophie and was just in awe of her. We have like a purity in our sound. We are not necessarily that skilled, but there's a sound that suits the songs. Benny Andersson really encouraged that.
Stellan Skarsgard
On how has ABBA music affected his life and being part of the sequel again:
It has of course affected me. The amount of anxiety it has given me because first in the ‘70s when they won the Eurovision contest and Sweden won it and they won it and you heard “Waterloo” 15, 20 times a day on each radio channel for a year. That gave me anxiety.
Then I do the first film and for a month and a half, four hours a day, I tried to learn to dance to “Voulez-Vous”, and that gave me anxiety. I tried to sing in the first one and in front of Benny and Bjorn, talented musicians, and that gave me anxiety. So mainly, they've added to my anxiety but I also love listening to their music if it's not a song that I've rehearsed myself and that I've been involved in because then there's too much anxiety.
But the other songs that everyone else sings, I like to hear. Of course it's given me this job which has been two fantastic experiences with a wonderful ensemble and we've had so much fun doing it. When they called for the second time now, I mean they couldn't finish the sentence before I said yes. Because hanging out with those people, having fun and it’s not normal acting work, it's because it's not about analyzing your role and preparing and all that stuff, it's making sure you have fun and that's a great way to earn a living.
Pierce Brosnan
On how much he misses Meryl Streep in this movie:
Oh, I missed her. I love Meryl. We became good friends and I have the greatest admiration for her as a woman and as an actress, as a person. She left a lasting impression on my heart. So within the context of the story, it was delightful for my character, Sam, to have those emotions as slight as they are throughout the piece. She permeates the piece. She left such a mighty impression on the world in this role of Donna. Then to see Lily transform into Meryl was just bewitching.
On playing in the sequel and the idea of having a Mamma Mia 3:
People have started talking about Mamma Mia 3...Jesus, they better not wait 10 years? (Speaks in an old man’s voice) Where are you? I don't know. (Laughs)
I don't know if there’ll be a Mamma Mia 3, I don’t know what's in their bag of tricks, but sequels, when they work, are joyous. Any movie that works is joyous really. But, I love this film. I saw it a few weeks ago at home. My wife decided to put one in and I said, no, we don't need a theater. We watched the movie with friends and family.
It opens and there was Amanda and my heart swelled. It was just like, wow, there she is, watch this young woman grow up from a 21-year-old young girl to a woman now with her own child. You go to the set and there she is, she's nursing her baby. There’s a great poignancy to that. We've all remained friends and there's a respect for each other's work and who we are as people.
Cher
On whose career she wants to have:
It would be Meryl’s career. Meryl has a perfect career. I can't think of anyone better. There is no one better, and she balances her life really well. She's really easy going because I emailed her, and I went, I'm not happy with the way I look in the one sheet, I'm too dark. She wrote me back, “stop it, okay. It doesn't make any difference, just give it up and let it go.” And I went alright. But I didn't.
On how she feels about love these days:
I had one not so long ago, but the truth is, and I don't know if you guys can understand this or not, but having any kind of boyfriend in front of the press only leads to tears. It's never worked that well. I've had breakups. I mean Robert is a perfect example. We had the press stalking us, and he went to jail and he hadn't done anything. So it's better now to hide everything.
On meeting ABBA and being in their video:
I have met Benny but I haven’t met Bjorn. But this is so crazy, I was looking at something on the computer and that video I did with them came up. That great video with the puppets. I think that was their last video and all of a sudden I'm in it. I didn't really remember doing it, and then it came back to me, but I don't know why they asked me to do it.
On whether her voice changed from the time she was singing with Sonny Bono:
Yeah, I think it’s about 100 times better. No, I'm surprised that I haven't had to drop my keys and my voice is really stronger. It's been this strong now for awhile, but it's not diminishing. I still really love singing.
One of my favorite things to do is when we're rehearsing on stage, like in an arena. I love standing and singing because I like the feeling of my voice coming out of my body because it's so big and it fills my whole body up with this kind of physical feeling, an emotional feeling. There's no audience, so you don't have to worry about whatever's going to happen.
Bjorn Ulvraeus and Benny Anderson (ABBA)
On realizing how much influence their music has on people’s lives:
Bjorn: It’s a very good question, because almost every day someone comes up to me and to Benny and to all four of us saying that oh, you cannot imagine what your music has meant in some way or other.
It's very difficult to grasp that completely emotionally. Intellectually, you can look at numbers of sold records and stuff like that, but to emotionally understand what that means when that other person says so is very difficult. But it's very humbling as well. I'm grateful every time.
Benny: Whatever kind of artistic work you're into, if you're thorough and if you are sincere working with it, if you do the best you can at all times, then the music in our case we'll have a center, it’s us or it's me if it's only me when I'm doing my stuff.
I'm trying to be as sincere as I can at every second trying to write music. If you do that, you have a chance to have a response from someone else because it's for real, it’s not guesswork. It's not trying to find out, oh, I wonder if this is going to work next year or not, it's not like that. It has to do with the moment when it actually happens. It has to do with sincerity. Not to say that it's totally miraculous that we are still around after so many years. It's more than 45 years.
People are still listening and I don't get that because it's incomprehensible really. But one is very grateful and humbled by the fact.
I think nowadays when you hear music done by a committee, one guy is writing a bass line and another girl is writing the drum stuff and someone is doing the synthesizer and then finally someone puts a melody on top of that. I don't understand how they can do that, because in our life, it’s been totally the other way around. First you have the melody and the chords and the rhythm and then you build on that, so you know what the substance is. I have a hard time trying to figure out what they're doing nowadays, but then I'm old.
On the secret of their friendship:
Benny: We disagree on a lot of stuff, but not when we work. When we work and it has always been like that, our effort is that we should both be happy with what we do.
When the song is recorded and in the can, we should both feel that yeah, this is it. We've done as good as we can now and we're happy. We don't socialize that much anymore. We used to do it in the early years.
Bjorn: I would say that we have both developed and matured and that we're still curious because it often happens when two people collaborate, that one of them, suddenly is not curious anymore and doesn't want to know about new things and doesn't want to try new things. Then that collaboration stops.
Benny: The thing is. I have my band as I said for many years now and I write music for them, for Tommy and Helen to sing, I wouldn't ask anyone else but Bjorn to write the lyric for that because I know it's coming out good. So it’s the trust in that we have in each other. If we work together, and if we're serious about it, it might be good again. So that's what keeps both of us ticking. — LA, GMA News
