Johnny Cash son on Walk the Line: "I wanted it to tell the full story"

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Before musician biopics were as common as Marvel movies, we had Walk the Line – the startling story of the romance between American singers Johnny Cash and June Carter.

Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reece Witherspoon, the film follows the life of Cash, from his Arkansas childhood to his rise as a country music star, as battles addiction and personal relationships and falls deeply in love with June Carter, who hails from the famous Carter music family. At the time, this film reached high levels of acclaim, scooping up dozens of awards, including four Oscar nominations and one win for Witherspoon as Best Actress.

Now, over 20 years on from the movie's release, Cash and Carter's love story is being told once again with a new touring musical: The Ballad of Johnny and June, giving the chance for John Carter Cash – son of the iconic country music stars – to reflect on the impact the film had.

"Walk the Line told a great love story, right?" he said, "I think it captured their love very well, and the performances were just excellent, but there's only so much you can do in two hours and I don't think it told the full story."

Still from Walk the Line starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reece Witherspoon — 20th century Fox

He continued: "The film leaves off in 1968 and it has a sort of happily ever after, but basically, it wasn't. So how do you tell the rest of the story in a way that's dignified? How do you how do you approach some of the realities that that not as many people know?"

Carter Cash said it was important he find ways to show his parents as more than 2D dimensional historical figures: "We rang bells at my parents' funerals, and we threw my father's wheelchair in the in the lake after he died, I wanted the chance to show that."

For him, this new stage production is a way to redress this, calling it "the best retelling" and the most full story so far.

The musical is told through Carter Cash's eyes, kicking off with his parents' 1956 meeting and taking in the entirety of their lives together, with plenty of well-known songs from both of their careers – Ring of Fire, Hey Porter, Jackson, I’ve Been Everywhere and so much more.

The production first opened at La Jolla playhouse in California before moving UK-side for a nationwide tour, which is now running until September. In the process of making the show, Carter Cash called it a "long but magical process".

He said: "Des McAnuff, Robert Cary (director and co-author) and I did quite a few interviews together, each of them being four or five hours a piece, where they really dug into my life and my stories and my speech and my attitude and everything, and then I brought them a bunch of songs that would be fitting possibilities from my mum and dad's catalogue.

CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 1969: Married country singers Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash pose for a portrait at an event in September 1969 in California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) — Johnny Cash and June Carter. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

"One thing that I definitely didn't want was another musical review, like, you know, the songs and everybody jumping and dancing on stage just for the sake of dancing. I wanted it to tell the full story and so that was a bit of a challenge."

Carter Cash said he particularly wanted to find a way to portray his parents' struggles with addiction. In his lifetime Cash spoke about his long-running battle with pill addiction, and yet it is not widely known that June Carter also faced difficulties.

As Carter Cash said: "My mother dealt with addiction in the last part of her life, and when I was worried about it I came to my father and talked to him about it.

"And there were great turning points that occurred during my father's sobriety in the early 1970s that I wanted it to be told. There was a great period after he got sober in 1968 where there was quite a happy family.

"There was, you know, a together life but then we also had to show how in 1982-1983 it was probably harder than it had ever been.

"But to show that, to make a point of going to the darkness, it had to be in order to help people and to show how he continued on with love."

This, in fact, was the key point for Carter Cash, to show how "love can win in the face of things that are heavier and darker."

He continued: "It's a great story. It's two beautiful, short lives. Both my parents died before they were 75 but they lived an intense and beautiful life. And no matter what happened, they chose love daily. So it's a worthy story to tell and perpetuate."

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