{"id":45958,"date":"2025-09-07T21:19:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T21:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/07\/christopher-guest-on-spinal-tap-secrets\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T21:19:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T21:19:09","slug":"christopher-guest-on-spinal-tap-secrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/07\/christopher-guest-on-spinal-tap-secrets\/","title":{"rendered":"Christopher Guest on Spinal Tap Secrets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tFor almost a decade, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/christopher-guest\/\" id=\"auto-tag_christopher-guest\" data-tag=\"christopher-guest\">Christopher Guest<\/a> has been \u201cessentially retired,\u201d the actor\/director reveals in the new episode of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/rolling-stone-music-now\/\" id=\"auto-tag_rolling-stone-music-now\" data-tag=\"rolling-stone-music-now\">Rolling Stone Music Now<\/a><\/em>. After he directed <em>Mascots <\/em>for Netflix in 2016, he recalls the streamer telling him they\u2019d make any film he wanted \u2014\u00a0but he didn\u2019t have an idea for one. \u200a\u201dI go hiking and I walk in rivers and I ski,\u201d says Guest, who\u2019s been married to Jamie Lee Curtis since 1984. \u201cAnd I do that and I play music every single day. So I have this life and I thought, \u2018I think I really like this.\u2019 \u2026 I don\u2019t have an idea for a movie, and I might not ever. I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.megaphone.fm\/IMP4572004694\" frameborder=\"no\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBut Guest made an exception when it came to returning as Nigel Tufnel for <em>Spinal Tap II: The End Continues<\/em> (due in theaters Sept. 12). \u201c\u200aWhen we got together, we made each other laugh,\u201d says Guest, who continued the original film\u2019s original method as the director of classic films from <em>A Mighty Wind<\/em> to <em>Best in Show<\/em>. In the episode, he looks back at the origins of Spinal Tap and his character, the making of the amp-going-to-11 scene, what it was like working with Elton John and Paul McCartney, and much more. Some highlights follow. To hear the whole episode, go<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/link.chtbl.com\/iw8-QbwN\"> here<\/a> for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/rolling-stone-music-now\/id1078431985\"> Apple Podcasts<\/a> or<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0jCfnXfdYhwIM2I4x7SxZx\"> Spotify<\/a>, or just press play above.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>Guest insists that despite widespread assumptions about the physical resemblance, Nigel Tufnel was not based on Jeff Beck. <\/strong><br \/>\u201cWe had no money doing the first movie,\u201d Guest says. \u201cThere was a hair person that said, \u2018We\u2019ll just go and look up wigs.\u2019 \u2026 It was like a woman\u2019s wig. And she said, \u2018Well, I\u2019ll just cut it in a kind of a rock &amp; roll style.\u2019 I had heard Jeff Beck, but I don\u2019t know if I had ever seen a picture where I went, \u2018oh, that\u2019s the guy\u2019 \u2026 and I had never seen video of him.\u201d Guest and Beck eventually became real-life friends, and the guitar hero never said anything to him about the parallels.<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>\u201cStonehenge\u201d was written alongside another, never-released Spinal Tap song. <\/strong><br \/>\u201cMichael McKean and I were sitting with two guitars in the living room,\u201d Guest says. \u201cAnd we started to write a couple of songs. One was called \u2018The Princess and the Unicorn,\u2019 which I don\u2019t think we ever recorded. \u200a\u2019The princess and the unicorn were sitting in the garden \u2026\u2019 and it was almost like something you\u2019d hear played on the lute and a renaissance kind of wind instrument. We can play the first part of it when we get together, but then we forget the rest of it. And then \u2018Stonehenge\u2019 started to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>Elton John was a \u201cgood sport\u201d for his guest appearance in <em>Spinal Tap II<\/em>, even participating in a physical stunt that\u2019s key to the end of the movie. <\/strong><br \/>\u201cHe was such a good sport,\u201d says Guest. It was insane. This is a person who\u2019s had some physical things, serious things in the last years. And he came in and he was sort of limping and I thought, \u2018Oh my God, we\u2019re doing this stunt, we\u2019re doing this thing.\u2019 And he was amazing. I mean, imagine if he\u2019d said, \u2018This is bullshit. I\u2019m walking out.\u2019 No movie! And he was amazing, just so generous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>Ricky Gervais once told Guest that <em>The Office<\/em> was inspired by <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/this-is-spinal-tap\/\" id=\"auto-tag_this-is-spinal-tap\" data-tag=\"this-is-spinal-tap\">This Is Spinal Tap<\/a><\/em>, even though it wasn\u2019t improvised. <\/strong> <br \/>\u201cI called up Ricky Gervais, this was 15 years ago, and it was instantaneous connection,\u201d says Guest. He said, \u2018I want you to know that\u2019s the most important movie to me ever, and that I used it as the basis for a style. But we wrote every single word.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>Nigel Tufnel\u2019s new career as a cheese-shop owner in the sequel comes from Guest\u2019s real love for cheese and a passing fantasy.<\/strong> <br \/>Walking into Neal\u2019s Yard Dairy cheese shop in London, Guest saw a \u201chelp wanted\u201d sign and had an epiphany after experiencing the shopkeeper\u2019s sincerity and passion: \u201cI thought, I\u2019m gonna call Jamie,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m gonna tell her, \u2018I think I\u2019m gonna do this. I could work here, I could learn about this.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>Guest started improvising because he had real trouble remembering dialogue and song lyrics. <\/strong><br \/>\u201cI was in a band when I was 16 or 17, and I used to have to write the lyrics on a piece of paper and tape it to my guitar,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I\u2019d be in a panic about not being able to remember words that I had written. And when I was in plays, I found it difficult, and that led to the idea of, \u2018Well, I could make this up.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDownload and subscribe to <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>\u2018s weekly podcast, <em>Rolling Stone Music Now<\/em>, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). Check out six years\u2019 worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Questlove, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>\u2018s critics and reporters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/christopher-guest-spinal-tap-nigel-tufnel-interview-1235422792\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For almost a decade, Christopher Guest has been \u201cessentially retired,\u201d the actor\/director reveals in the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now. After he&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}