In the new comedy-drama film The Space Between, Frasier star Kelsey Grammer portrays an eccentric, almost-forgotten rock star named Micky Adams who’s living reclusively in his Los Angeles estate.
In the movie, which is set in the 1990s, an ambitious young record company employee, played by Jackson White, is tasked with meeting Adams to try to get the musician out of his still-lucrative contract, but ends up developing a friendship with Micky, and inspiring him to find his voice again.
Grammer tells ABC Audio that his look in the film — often shirtless, with long, flowing hair — was inspired by a very famous rocker with whom he’s actually acquainted.
“[It’s] a Robert Plant derivative with a little more weight than Robert carries around,” says Kelsey.
The actor adds that he knows the Led Zeppelin frontman well enough that he actually sent Plant a photo of him as Adams and, laughing, Grammer recalls that the rock legend reacted by commenting, “Well, I hear [my] old band’s looking for a lead singer.” Adds Kelsey, “It was a perfect response.”
Grammer tells ABC Audio that when he read the script, the main character reminded him of his late friend Ray Kennedy, who co-wrote well-known songs for The Beach Boys and The Babys.
“I just thought, ‘I’m gonna…sort of dedicate it to him,"” Kelsey notes. “And I just loved this movie. I love the heart of it, and I love this guy, and…all the sort of fringe elements of it. It’s a really fun adventure.”
All the songs in Micky’s catalog — allegedly spanning from 1960s surf rock through the ’70s — were performed by Grammer, and written by Weezer‘s Rivers Cuomo. “It was really fun,” Grammer says. (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)
The Space Between is available now via video on demand.
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