‘Mamma Mia: Again and again’: the impossible age difference with Meryl Streep and other curiosities about Cher’s starring role in the sequel

Just when the tenth anniversary of the premiere of ‘Mamma Mia!’ was celebrated, his sequel: ‘Mamma Mia: Again and again’. One of the main claims of this late second part, in addition to the return of the original cast, was the intervention of cher.

It was not the first time that the singer appeared on the big screen, having participated and even starred in some films such as the remembered ‘Moon Spell’ or the musical ‘Burlesque’, along with Christina Aguilera.

“I didn’t even look at the script”

According to an interview broadcast on CherNewsI declare that he did not pass any casting for the role nor was the script read when he accepted the role: “The reason why I did ‘Mamma Mia 2’ is because my agent (…) head of Universal studios called me and said: Cher, you’re doing ‘Mamma Mia’, and hung up”, “I would not accept it nobody in the world except him. That’s why I said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”

Mother with 3 years

Cher’s role in ‘Mamma Mia: Again and Again’ is none other than that of Ruby Sheridan, grandmother of the protagonist played by Amanda Seyfried and mother of Meryl Streep’s character. Curious decision since, despite the fact that Cher is older than Streep, the first was born in 1946 while the second is from 1949: they only take three years.

A millionaire cameo

His appearance in ‘Mamma Mia: Again and again’ is certainly brief, limited to a couple of minutes, but it was certainly well paid: according to MeterCher charged 1 million dollars for his brief intervention. Which is also not that surprising considering that Meryl Streep, whose character also has very small appearances in the film, was paid 3 million dollars for them.

Covering ABBA

In fact, Cher was left somewhat dissatisfied with her musical contribution to the film. She, according to her, commented on New York Times: “I don’t remember doing anything memorable other than singing Ferdinand (…) When I was packing to go home I said to Jen (her assistant): Do you know what would be fun?” and there the idea arose of making an album covering the songs of the swedish group.

‘Dancing Queen’ became the singer’s twenty-sixth studio album, her last to date. It was released in 2018 and includes covers of such iconic songs from ABBA What Waterloo, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! either sos.

After the success of ‘Mamma Mia!’ and ‘Mamma Mia: Again and again’, it is not unreasonable to think of a third installment but, at the moment, there is no proposal on the table to turn this musical into a trilogy.