James Keachhas led a very interesting life, and has orbited the lives of other very interesting people. He co-wrote and also starred inThe Long Riders(along with his brother Stacy), a classic Western film which caught the eye of Johnny Cash. Cash and June Carter became close friends with Keach, who would go on to develop and producethe Cash biopicWalk the Line. He wasn’t the only iconic musician Keach befriended; iconic artist Glen Campbell became a good friend of James Keach, and also worked with him on a movie.Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Meis a beautiful,Oscar-nominated documentaryabout Campbell’s “Goodbye Tour” and the musician’s life-ending Alzheimer’s disease. Now, Keach is giving Campbell theWalk the Linetreatment with an intimate biographical drama.
“We’re working on doing theWalk the Lineversion of the Glen Campbell story,“Keach told MovieWebin an interview revolving around Alzheimer’s disease. It’s the subject ofhis latest film,Taking Care, which explores how the disease impacted actor Seth Rogen and wife Lauren Miller Rogen, who started Hilarity for Charity to raise awareness and funds for the cause. “I think that in Glen’s case, it’s one of the most extraordinary things that the guy was able to sing.” Keach added:
And Tony Bennett is another example of that, to actually sing when he couldn’t remember who his wife was. It’s a fascinating disease, and it’s tragic, and hopefully none of us get it, but there’s an inevitability that a lot of people are going to.
Keach explained his upcoming Campbell biopic to MovieWeb: “I think we’re going to cast him very young, and he will see himself through the eyes of being young, like we all do. It’s like I look at myself on the screen here. I don’t see [myself as] the picture right here. I see it up there [points to a photograph on his shelf], me doingThe Long Riders, and I’m 29 years old, and I’m riding down the street, kicking ass, you know, I see myself and I feel that I’m still that guy. But then I look in the mirror and I go, ‘Oh, here I am.'”
Casting Young Glen Campbell
The basic story of the film seems to follow Campbell during the same “Goodbye Tour” of Keach’s documentary, but it utilizes flashbacks throughout, with Campbell’s life sort of flashing before his eyes as his mind drifts. “I think it’s somebody who’s going to have to understand music, you know,” added Keach about casting a young Campbell. “It’s a pretty important thing. And Glen was just a phenomenal musician, and he was funny. The movie is still about the last tour, but he sees his whole life. It’s a different approach to it, but it’s like [Alzheimer’s].” Keach elaborated:
“One of the things about Alzheimer’s is that you can go anywhere. Your mind can go anywhere. That’s the truth of any our minds, period. I mean, if you’re meditating or you do anything like that, you know the monkey mind, you could be back when you’re five years old, and then you go to when you’re 50, and then you go back to when you’re 25. But that’s Alzheimer’s, in the sense that it’s a disease of the mind.”
Keach said that the actor will probably be a fresh face we haven’t seen before, so we will have to wait and see who will play Glen Campbell, or, as the musician would say, who “Will Be Me.” In the meantime,Taking Careis available to watch on digital platforms like Apple TV, Amazon, and more.Find it here. You can find more information aboutHilarity for Charity here, and you can learn how totake action withTaking Carehere.
