While breakout star Diego Boneta wasn’t even born yet in 1987, when “Rock of Ages” takes place, his colleagues certainly have some memories of what the world was like 25 years ago.
Actress Malin Akerman:
My mom was an aerobics instructor, and she liked to go out dancing, so I would always remember her in her outfits and I was always pining after her like, “I wish I could be her, I wish I could wear those outfits.” She’d wear her tight blue spandex pants and her big hair and red nails. I always wanted to perm my hair back then, but my mom wouldn’t let me. So I finally got to live that dream out in this movie. But back then, I don’t know about you but I was wearing the horrible fluorescent T-shirts [and] acid-wash jeans. It was really, really ugly. I like the ’80s, though. I think it’s pretty sexy with girls in high jeans and the rock T-shirts or leather — anything leather is always great.
Screenwriter Justin Theroux:
Oh, man. Endless frustration with girls. In ’87 I was 15, I guess. I remember hairspray and lots of Dippity-do. My first record was “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” by AC/DC. In the same way when I was in my 20s there was that weird ’70s nostalgia when bellbottoms came back in, there’s kind of a similar thing with the ’80s now. To me, the ’80s were just kind of fun memories because nothing’s really gone wrong yet in your life, so all the music is very nostalgic for me, too.
Director Adam Shankman:
In 1987, I was actually in New York. I had just dropped out of school. I was a waiter working at El Rio Grande on Third Avenue. I was starting to do musical theater. I was going to a lot of clubs — I was going to Danceteria, the Palladium, Area at the end of the Area years. I was a little more suspenders-and-skinny-tie guy. It was horrifying. I freely admit to the ugliness of it.
