Chrissie Hynde was “mortified” by the way she was portrayed in Sex Pistols drama series Pistol.
Chrissie Hynde was more “embarrassed” by Pistol than anything she’s ever done.
The Pretenders frontwoman has a prominent role in Danny Boyle’s controversial mini-series about the Sex Pistols and she admitted she was left “mortified” by her depiction because she didn’t have anywhere near as much involvement in the group as it seems.
She told MOJO magazine: “I mean, I love Danny Boyle. I think he’s lovely but I couldn’t watch it.
“I was so mortified to be so present in it. Because that was definitely not the way it was…
“I would say, in my life, I’ve been embarrassed often. But never have I been that embarrassed.
“I will say to the credit of Danny Boyle, who I think is terrific and a good guy, I thought Malcolm [McLaren] and John [Lydon] were both pretty good. Otherwise… no.
“There’s one scene where I think I’m sitting cross-legged on a table while the band’s having a meeting. They’re talking about something and I said, ‘I agree with John.’
“And at that point, I wanted to hang myself because if anyone brought a boyfriend or girlfriend, or anyone who wasn’t in the band into a band meeting, they would have been out on the street before you could say, ‘F*** off’.
“Honestly, I’ve never been as mortified by anything than that one scene.
“But I don’t want to put Danny down. He did a good job, for what it was.”
Chrissie – who didn’t get “very far” in watching the show – actually visited the set of the drama and met with Sydney Chandler, who depicted her on screen.
She said: “I met Danny Boyle and I met the girl that played me and she was lovely.
“I went and saw the little band rehearsing on some sound stage. And I looked at the band, and I looked at all the cast, and I realised I was the only one there who had ever seen the Sex Pistols. Because everyone else is too young.
“I know a lot of much younger people watched it and liked it because they didn’t live through it.
“But I did live through it and I certainly didn’t look like that and I didn’t talk like that. I didn’t act like that and I was not the fifth member of the band.
“It looked like I was really involved in the band. I wasn’t.”
Chrissie Hynde ‘mortified’ by Pistol portrayal
