The Runaways' Cherie Currie Admits She Was 'Shocked' by Dakota Fanning's Portrayal in Music Biopic (Exclusive)

Iconic Runaways singer, Cherie Currie recently opened up about the 2010 coming-of-age biopic [...]

Iconic Runaways singer, Cherie Currie recently opened up about the 2010 coming-of-age biopic chronicling her 1970s teenage all-girl rock band led by Joan Jett, admitting she was initially "shocked" by actress, Dakota Fanning's portrayal of her. In the film, which explored the relationship between Currie and Jett (Kristen Stewart), Currie throws it back exclusively with PopCulture.com, sharing how she felt the first time seeing Fanning — a then, 16-year-old — in makeup and costume, sharing it was an incredible experience.

"I walked into the scene that they were doing, where they're playing at a club," she told PopCulture. "That is the first time I went on set, early on in the production. I'll never forget Joan being there, we literally saw these actors performing, and Joan and I felt like we were in the audience. We felt like the how audience felt actually watching The Runaways. It was that [good]. They executed it so well."

Currie also recalled when she first met Fanning, ahead of production, saying the then teenage actress was under the weather for their initial encounter. "When I met Dakota, she arrived ill, believe it or not. She had a fever and everything. She looked the same way she did when she did War of the Worlds. That's how young she was. She was 15, but she was maturing very slowly," Currie said. "I met her at The Roxy, because I was doing Cherry Bomb, and she and her folks came. And I was looking at her saying, 'How the heck can she play me?' Even though she was the same age as I was, 15. The next time I saw her, close to a year later, she had grown into this beautiful woman. And of course, she is one of my favorite actors of all time, so I'm still on cloud nine about."

Currie went on to praise Fanning's professionalism at such a young age, saying she tips her hat off to her over her range and versatility in acting. "She had studied a lot of video, everything she could get her hands on and when she was playing me, she'd kind of whisper. And I asked her, 'Dakota, why?' And she said, 'Well, haven't you watched the videos of yourself?' So, you know what? I started watching those videos, and sure enough, I whispered back then. I mean, she had everything down to signing with her left hand, instead of her right hand, in the contract scene, because I'm left-handed. I mean, she really studied everything about me, and it shocked me how well she was able to portray me in this film."

Currie summed up the entire experience succinctly, sharing: "Sometimes things are just so great that you just still don't believe, even though it's already 10 years past. That kind of gratitude I have every day for this."

Now, nearly a decade later, Currie has released her newest album, Blvds of Splendor, a project many years in the making. Produced by former Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum, Blvds of Splendor finds Currie back behind the mic, belting out epic songs that recapture the fire of classic eras of rock and punk music. "This is Matt's brainchild of a record," Currie told PopCulture. "It's a pretty darn good record, in my opinion. It's really a fun record to listen to."

In addition to Sorum, the album also features guest stars such as actress Juliette Lewis, The Smashing Pumpkins vocalist Billy Corgan, Sorum's old bandmates Slash and Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver), Australian pop duo The Veronicas, and Distillers vocalist Brody Dalle. As with Fanning, Currie had nothing but heaps of praise for her musical friends, saying that they are all "astonishing people, really, really down to earth, good human beings." She added, "Working with them and having that much fun is something I'll never forget."

Blvds of Splendor is now available on most streaming services, including Spotify, iTunes and Amazon. Keep it locked to PopCulture.com for more music and entertainment news, and follow us on Twitter for the very latest in pop news.

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