A comedy starring Willie Nelson will soon hit on demand and theaters. The country legend spent nearly a decade working on the film Willie and Me.
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Speaking with Texas Monthly, filmmaker Eva Hassmann discussed the film revealing the comedy will focus on the power behind Nelson’s music. Think what Blinded by the Light did for Bruce Springsteen. Hassmann explained it took a decade to film due to financing issues.
She said, “I had to sometimes shoot in episodes, so there is a time gap between . . . I mean, it took me nearly ten years to get everything, up to the end, finished. There’s a gap of at least eight years between the first scene we shot for the film with Willie and the one where he plays the medicine man who drives Greta to the concert.”
Hassmann also stars in the film and is a big fan of Nelson. She realized she had to make a movie about the singer and what he meant to fans.
She said, “To show how inspiring music can be, specifically for someone who’s kind of stuck in a life situation that is not obviously bad but is still depressed. There’s this key moment where she listens to Willie’s music for the first time since her childhood, and it’s kind of a wake-up, and music is the transmitter for that. It’s about following your heart through music, even if it’s chaotic and naive, when you’re inspired by music. For me, it was Willie—but it can be any music for anybody.”
The Power of Willie Nelson
However, Hassmann denies that the film could have been about anyone else. She felt specifically inspired after seeing Nelson perform live for the first time.
“No. No, no, no. It’s really his music and his songs. That’s what makes the whole film and the story for me; that’s what makes it credible and important. The first time I saw Willie was at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. I was there with Peter Bogdanovich, and to see him onstage, we were sitting down and Willie started singing, and I immediately started crying,” she continued.
The film will drop on February 9th. The synopsis reads, “In Willie and Me, Greta Weingarten (Hassmann) is a housewife who is trapped in a stagnant marriage. One evening while serving dinner to her successful but bland husband, she hears a radio announcement about Willie Nelson’s farewell concert. Through his music, she is transported back to her disjointed childhood.”
The film will follow her journey to attend a Nelson concert in Vega and will feature the country singer as well.
[Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images]
