Coal Miner's Daughter - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Coal Miner's Daughter or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Coal Miner's Daughter

[phyllis]

The film places strong emphasis on the story that Loretta Lynn was married at the age of thirteen, which is actually false. In May 2012, the Associated Press unearthed Lynn's Kentucky birth certificate, which revealed the singer has been lying about her age for decades. She was actually sixteen at the time of her marriage.

[riley]

Although she plays their daughter, Sissy spacek is only 9 years younger than levon helm, who plays her father, and only 2 years younger than Phyllis boyens, who plays her mother.

[steve]

In preparation for her role as Loretta Lynn, Sissy Spacek accompanied the singer on one of her tours in order to study her on/offstage mannerisms.

[manuel]

Sissy Spacek stayed in character throughout the shoot, even off camera. People visiting the set thought she actually talked that way in real life.

[tamara]

According to Loretta Lynn, Tommy Lee Jones went to meet her husband with his hair dyed red to match Doolittle's youthful color, but Mr. Lynn did not warm to him or help him out. "He was jealous of him," she said, noting that it wasn't until Doo had to teach Tommy Lee to drive a tractor that he began to thaw. Eventually, as Loretta put it, "Doo ended up falling in love with Tommy Lee." Doo also showed Jones how to get the most speed out of the old World War II Jeep he drove in the film.

[beth]

During the filming of the funeral for Ted Webb, Levon Helm refused to lie in the casket, as it seemed too morbid to him. To allay Helm's fears, Michael Apted got into the casket himself and did a few takes to show Helm it was okay. Helm finally agreed to try it once, and the scene was done in one take.

[carl]

The only Best Picture Oscar nominee that year to not be nominated for Best Director.

[melinda]

Sissy Spacek was reluctant to take on the lead role, instead favoring a project by Nicolas Roeg. She had insisted on doing her own singing for the film in hopes of scaring the producers off. The real Loretta Lynn prematurely announced that Spacek was going to play her on a talk show, so Spacek was torn between the decision to star in the film, or choose the other project. She was advised by her mother-in-law to pray for a sign on what to do that evening, which she did. Spacek later went for a drive with her husband in her mother's car, where the radio was tuned into a classical music station that changed formats every evening. As the car pulled out of the parking garage, "Coal Miner's Daughter" by Loretta Lynn came on the radio. Spacek then accepted the role.

[stephanie]

According to Loretta Lynn, her husband Doolittle wanted nothing to do with Tommy Lee Jones, who was playing him, until shortly before shooting began in Butcher Holler. Jones rented a Jeep, got drunk on moonshine, and went tearing through the town in the vehicle, only to get arrested for drunk driving, beat up for resisting arrest, and jailed. Doolittle liked him immediately after that.

[violet]

Sissy Spacek expected fellow Texan Tommy Lee Jones to be a good old boy, but soon learned he was a sophisticated Harvard graduate. "I can honestly say, he's always the smartest person in the room," she wrote in her autobiography. "Tommy Lee had great instincts about the film. He elevated my performance in every way."

[jeffrey]

Levon Helm took over the bar in the hotel's basement practically every night, gathering musicians and singers to play the music of the area.

[addison]

Loretta Lynn is said to have fainted when she saw Levon Helm in full make-up and wardrobe, because of his amazing resemblance to her real father.

[ethel]

Sissy Spacek beat Meryl Streep for the role of Loretta Lynn. Spacek was considered for the role of the witch in Into the Woods (2014), and Violet Weston in August: Osage County (2013), both roles played by Streep.

[ronnie]

Sissy Spacek had high praise for Levon Helm, a musician acting for the first time on film. "He knew that character in his bones, and his portrayal has such dignity and grace that it literally anchors the film."

[ruby]

One of the few roles for which Meryl Streep has been turned down.

[linda]

Loretta Lynn was named after actress Loretta Young, whom her mother thought looked pretty.

[eli]

The production was based in Wise, Virginia, about seventy miles south of the real Butcher Holler. Cast and crew stayed in a historic hotel called the Wise Inn.

[kristen]

Harrison Ford was originally announced to play Dolittle Lynn prior to the movie going into production.

[norma]

The concert scenes were filmed in Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, which from 1943 to 1974 was the home of the Grand Ole Opry.