Director Bill Pohlad reflects on Brian Wilson's legacy
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Brian Wilson has died at age 82. Wilson was the influential leader of the Beach Boys, the rock group that first hit it big in the 1960s with sunny songs like “Surfin' USA” and “California Girls.”
During his lifetime, Wilson was largely seen as a musical genius, but a complicated one.
Back in 2014, Minnesotan Bill Pohlad directed and produced a biopic documenting both Wilson's artistic rise in the 1960s, and his struggles with mental illness in the 1980s. It's called “Love and Mercy.”
Pohlad spoke with MPR News guest host Nina Moini about getting to know Wilson, and his legacy.
Click on the audio player to listen to their conversation. The transcript below has been edited lightly for clarity and length.
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I’m sorry for your loss, Bill, and thank you for being here to talk about Mr. Wilson. I really appreciate it.
No, it's an honor. Actually, it's an honor to have been with him and to make the movie with him. We were just really thrilled to tell the story.
Yeah, so the film, ‘Love and Mercy,’ when you were working on it, were you able to work closely with Wilson, and did you keep in touch?
Well, we did, although he was a little bit standoffish. In other words, his wife, Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, was more involved but because of his illness, he was like in and out, and actually hard to communicate a little bit with, but he was a great man.
Yeah, famously a private person. What was it like making a film about somebody where you had to dive into the good and the hard times?
Well, you know, we were reacting to his reactions. We kind of were hoping to get a positive review from him, and so we read through the script with him, and he was sitting there for the entire two hours of the read-through and at some point he kind of nodded off and fell asleep, it seemed to be, so we were kind of curious as to how he was going to react to it.
But, you know, he actually wasn’t asleep, and he gave us significant notes throughout — and very positive notes. So we thought we had it accomplished.
Do you think he was happy to have his story out there in that way?
Yes, definitely. He was very happy to have the story told. The story of his psychologist Eugene Landy was really not a very positive thing for him, but he faced it head on, and he was ultimately glad that we told the story.
You made this film 2014. In recent years, it seems like people are more comfortable talking about mental health and mental illness. What did it feel like at the time that you were making the film versus now?
Yeah, we kind of were a little bit hesitant to reveal that side of him, but he was very open to it and wanted to do it because of the impact it would have on other people who suffered the same thing, or something like the same thing. Yes, he was very excited about that.
These are beautiful songs that have really stood the test of time.
Yeah, well, Brian had such a gift for writing. The song that sticks in my mind is “Till I die,” which was really about his struggles with himself. I'm particularly proud to get that out there.
Bill, do you mind sharing, when was the last time that you spoke to Brian Wilson?
Well, we actually had a phone conversation when Melinda died in 2024, unfortunately. He was very moved by that. And, you know, clearly upset. But you know, it was great that she had that time with him.
What is his legacy?
Well, hopefully it shows in different people reaching out about his life, of his struggles. And I think that will continue, hopefully the movie will do some good at, you know, extending that even more.
