Meat Loaf
Interview: Meat Loaf on Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny
“I did that in seven minutes,” said Meat Loaf. “Literally in seven minutes. They said just come in, we’re just going to lay down a reference vocal for when we shoot the movie. And I said okay, and I went over to one of the Dust Brother’s house, up in like his guesthouse where they had just had this little setup going. And I was on my way to Vegas and hence I had like 15 minutes. And so I went in and I did it. I don’t even remember doing it. And I said, ‘Well, you’ve just got to remember that you’ve gotta let me really do it for real’ and they never did so I have no idea what it is.”
Filming the part a few weeks later, Meat Loaf didn’t do the usual Hollywood lip syncing thing. They did play the reference track on the set, but Meat Loaf gave it his all. “I don’t lip sync. I sing it. Lip syncing would be just moving your mouth, but I sing it. When you’re doing it, you have to sing it or then it looks stupid. You have to sing it to feel it. They prerecord it but you’re still going for it, you’re still singing it. I’m singing at the top of my lungs in that room when I rip those posters down. You go for it. You can’t sit there and just move your mouth. You can’t do that. I think there are some people that do do that but I can’t imagine it.”
Having sung for songwriters as diverse as Jim Steinman, Dianne Warren and Nikki Sixx, Jack Black fit right into Meat Loaf’s style. “Well, what I did was very dramatic. It was very pointed and very dramatic. It wasn’t wishy washy. It went right to the point and it stated its point and it ended. It was written as a scene. Jack’s an actor so his music, at least what I did, I haven’t seen the film and I don’t know, but it was very pointed and it was a piece of cake. It was a cakewalk because it was written well. I never examined it because when I started to do it, it was written so well that you could do it in 15 minutes. And it was short.”
Meat Loaf’s scene is actually with a child actor playing the young Jack Black but Meat met the D’s cofounder for the recording. “We had a long phone conversation when he called me for the movie. But we had met before somewhere but just briefly, and then we had a phone conversation. I guess the first time that I was around him long enough was in that 15 minutes but I really liked him. My daughter knew him and had been around him and really liked him, said he was a good guy and down to earth. You kind of get a sense of that from how he goes. So you don’t mind stepping up for good people.”
With the film beginning to screen, Meat Loaf has appreciated the anonymity he has felt as fans take their time discovering the celebrity cameo. “A lot of people aren’t recognizing me as Jack’s father. I went on a chat board yesterday and there was I don't know how many, but thousands. And it wasn’t until way deep, they went, ‘Is that Meat Loaf?’ So I really like that part. I really like the fact that because the character speaks for himself so I really like that.”
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny opens tomorrow, November 22nd.
For the trailers, featurettes, synopsis and more movie info, go to the Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny Movie Page.
Stay tuned for updates.
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