Cyndi Lauper wants to apologize to Steven Spielberg over The Goonies music video.
40-Year-Old Regrets
Four decades after recording The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough for the 1985 family-adventure film, the 73-year-old music icon has admitted she regrets the way she handled a creative disagreement with the 79-year-old legendary filmmaker.
Speaking on the Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus podcast, Lauper reflected on making the music video for the hit song, which served as the theme for the Spielberg-produced movie.
According to the True Colors hitmaker, the misunderstanding stemmed from her excitement about working on a Hollywood production.
She admitted, “I never spoke right to him.”
Spielberg had suggested filming the music video using a green screen, but Lauper had envisioned something very different.
She explained, “He wanted to do a green screen, and I went to Hollywood to work with a Hollywood director.”
Miscommunication
Looking back, the two-time Grammy winner realizes she did not communicate what she was really trying to say.
Lauper said, “Instead of saying, ‘I was hoping I’d be on a Hollywood set, I came all the way here to work with you on a Hollywood set, and a green screen. We’d do that with MTV.'”
Instead, she recalled telling Spielberg, “‘I was hoping we could do something a little more creative’… he got up very indignant. He was very upset with me, but I didn’t know how to say it right.”
The Time After Time legend stressed that she never intended to criticize Spielberg’s ideas or suggest they lacked imagination.
Lauper clarified, “I didn’t mean it as, it wasn’t creative, that’s why I feel bad.”
Clearing Up the Past
Now, with decades of perspective behind her, the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun artist says she has been thinking about clearing up misunderstandings from her past.
Lauper explained, “I just meant that I came all that way. And I never really said anything. And now that I’m getting older, I keep thinking, ‘Well, why don’t you write a letter to so and so, just so they know.'”
She added, “Just like, just apologize, just so they know that’s not really what you meant.”
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 65, encouraged the idea, telling Lauper it was not “a bad idea” to reach out to Spielberg, to which the She Bop entertainer agreed.
Lauper said, “When I got off the road, I was thinking of all these people and maybe how they misunderstood.”
The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough
Although the collaboration was not without creative tension, The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough became one of Lauper’s biggest hits, climbing to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and playing throughout The Goonies, including its closing credits.
The song was accompanied by an ambitious 13-minute, two-part music video packed with celebrity cameos, including wrestling legends Andre the Giant and The Iron Sheik, who appeared as pirates while Lauper attempted to save her family’s business from creditors.
In April 2020, Lauper reunited virtually with Spielberg and the cast of The Goonies to celebrate the beloved film’s enduring legacy.
Reflecting on why the adventure has remained so popular, she said on Reunited Apart with Josh Gad, “For me, The Goonies was kind of a ‘Our Gang’ kind of thing. It was one of those incredible underdog movies where you’re always rooting for the underdog, and it was funny.”