When the musical Mamma Mia! was released in 2008, the movie was pretty much an instant
hit, charming audiences with a winsome ABBA soundtrack and an enthusiastic A-list cast.
If you're looking for behind-the-scenes facts about the movie's wacky, colorful world, you're
in luck.
Here's the untold truth of Mamma Mia!
"You sound like you're having fun already."
"Oh, we are!"
The first Mamma Mia! film centers around Sophie and Sky, a young couple preparing for their
wedding.
The lovebirds were played by Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper, and in an adorable turn
of events, the two actors actually fell in love during the first movie!
"If you had it your way, it'd be a 3-minute wedding in jeans and T-shirts, washed down
with a bottle of beer."
"You make me sound so unromantic!"
Sadly, nothing good lasts forever, and the couple split up three years after the release
of Mamma Mia!
However, in the sequel film, the actors had to play a married couple - which meant they
each had to tap into those old emotions.
Seyfried told Elle about how it was hard not to slip back into old habits, saying,
"You know, it's very strange having to not be intimate with someone you've had an intimate
relationship with.
It can be hard but you have to step back and be professional."
Luckily, the two were able to get past the potential awkwardness, as it had been ten
years since Cooper and Seyfried had been together.
Cooper explained in an interview with Attitude,
"It was a pleasant atmosphere.
It was really interesting to see how different our lives are after 10 years.
It is a long time and it was nice to spend time [with her]."
Mamma Mia! boasts an incredible cast of very talented performers - including a former 00
agent.
"Beg your pardon.
Forgot to knock."
Pierce Brosnan plays Sam, one of the three potential fathers Sophie invited to her wedding
as a part of her search for her real dad.
Prior to the release of Mamma Mia!, many viewers probably wouldn't have pegged Brosnan for
a musical movie kind of guy - after all, the actor was primarily known for playing more
serious and action-y roles like James Bond in the 1990s.
As it turns out, Brosnan didn't necessarily picture himself in the role at first, either.
Speaking with Cinema.com about how he came to be cast, Brosnan revealed that he didn't
know much about the project, but was eager to sign on when he heard Meryl Streep was
attached to the film.
He recalled his thinking after he was sent to see the stage version of the play, saying,
"I didn't know if the story was about ABBA themselves or whatever.
So I sat in the theatre, the curtain went up and there was this rather simplistic set
and I thought 'Oh dear,' but I also said to myself, 'Well, it must be good if Meryl Streep
has said yes to it.'"
"My sentiments exactly."
The first Mamma Mia! follows the relationship between Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried,
who play mother and daughter, Donna and Sophie Sheridan.
And according to the film's director, Phyllida Lloyd, the off-screen relationship between
the two actors was pretty special too.
If you've seen the movie even once, you know that Streep singing "Slipping Through My Fingers"
as she prepares for her daughter's wedding is a musical performance guaranteed to make
you cry.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Lloyd opened up about how Streep and Seyfried's
special bond helped them film the touching scene.
She explained,
"There was great tenderness between Meryl and Amanda and they both identified strongly
with the scene.
We talked about all the things that might happen when a mother and daughter help each
other get ready for a wedding, and I just let them improvise as Meryl painted Amanda's
toenails."
She also revealed that Streep came up with the idea to have Seyfried sit on her lap during
the heartwarming moment, saying that watching them bring the scene to life was incredibly
touching.
Both Mamma Mia! movies revolve around the amazing music of ABBA.
And as it turns out, the Swedish band was actually pretty involved in the filming process,
with some of the band members even making cameo appearances in the two films.
Benny Andersson appeared in the first movie's "Dancing Queen" sequence, briefly seen playing
piano on the dock.
Björn Ulvaeus also makes an appearance later on in the movie.
If you watch closely, he can be spotted as the Greek god in the end credits.
In the sequel, Andersson and Ulvaeus appear again.
Andersson is seen once again playing piano; however, Ulvaeus takes on a more surprising
role, playing a teacher during the song, "When I Kissed the Teacher."
Don't blink, and you'll be able to see him sitting behind Lily James when she bursts
into song.
Obviously, these musical icons weren't kidding around when they sang, "Here we go again!"
In the first Mamma Mia! movie, the entire wedding celebration is kicked up a notch when
a crack in the patio breaks and the fountain explodes, soaking all of the guests with water.
Of course, in true Mamma Mia! style, this doesn't put a damper on the celebrations.
Instead, the guests keep on dancing - and the audience is left with a truly iconic moment
to remember.
Director Phyllida Lloyd explained to the Daily Mail that this unforgettable scene was actually
pretty stressful to shoot.
She explained,
"The stakes were high, because we could only afford to do this scene once.
You can imagine how long it would take to dry everyone off, and some of the costumes
were delicate and there were wigs to consider too."
Luckily for the production, none of the actors slipped up!
In the first movie, one of Sophie Sheridan's potential fathers is Bill - played by the
Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård.
The character has a Swedish accent and can even be seen flying a Swedish flag from his
boat.
However, it turns out, the character was actually Australian in the original stage version.
As USA Today pointed out, the choice to change Bill from an Australian to a Swede might be
an homage to ABBA, who are Swedish themselves.
While Skarsgård is from Sweden, Josh Dylan, who plays the younger version of Bill in the
sequel, is from the UK.
Skarsgård spoke to The Big Issue about this casting.
In fact, as the actor revealed to the publication, Mamma Mia! producers even considered casting
one of Skarsgård's kids to play the younger version of his character.
But that didn't end up working out.
As Skarsgård joked in the interview,
"I think they looked at at least one of my sons but they found they actually needed someone
who could sing."
To nail her role in Here We Go Again, Lily James became a student of Meryl Streep's performance
in the first Mamma Mia film.
The actress told Allure in 2018, she sat down and watched the original movie, quote, "hundreds
of times."
She then proceeded to make an audio track of all of Streep's lines in the movie, so
that she could create a believable younger version of the character.
James explained to the publication,
"Every moment of that film I know by heart."
While James clearly spent hours and hours learning to mimic Streep as Donna, once she
got on set, she tried not to think about Streep too much.
She said in an interview with Allure,
"The thing I like about acting is fully surrendering to that moment and not trying to control what
happens.
So I think I just forgot to do anything."
Whether James was thinking about the original Donna or not, it's clear those hours of listening
seriously paid off.
After all, her Streep impression is flawless!
In Mamma Mia!, legendary actress Julie Walters plays Donna Sheridan's longtime friend, Rosie
Mulligan.
Apparently, however, she had to take some time off during the filming of the sequel
for a very special reason.
In 2017, Walters was made a dame during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
Unsurprisingly, according to Walters, the experience was "slightly nerve-wracking" compared
to shooting a lighthearted ABBA musical.
Soon enough, Walters returned to the Here We Go Again set, where she was greeted with
a surprise from the crew.
As fellow cast member Christine Baranski told BBC's The One Show, the cast and crew surprised
Walters with a rendition of the South Pacific musical number "There Is Nothing Like a Dame."
"All of a sudden, 'There is Nothing Like a Dame' started playing, from South Pacific,
the recording.
And we all just stood up and sang 'There is Nothing Like a Dame' to her.
She was so touched."
If Mamma Mia! fans need any more proof about how close-knit the actors and crew members
were while filming, it turns out three of the young leads actually lived together in
a villa while shooting Here We Go Again.
Lily James and Amanda Seyfried spoke to BUILD Series about how the cast got incredibly close
while filming, with James explaining that sequel actors Hugh Skinner, Jeremy Irvine,
and Josh Dylan all lived together in a Croatian villa for six weeks.
Fortunately, it seems that the rest of the cast were thick as thieves, as well.
Lily James even posted a photo on Instagram of the cast having dinner, captioning her
photo,
"Last night the dads cooked."
Could this cast be any cuter?
In the Mamma Mia! sequel, Lily James is a total force.
In the song "Waterloo," performed by Lily James and Hugh Skinner - James spins, flips,
and jumps around a restaurant with Skinner.
Watching scenes like this, you'd never realize that James did some of the dancing seen in
the movie with a broken toe.
As James explained in an interview with Riyadh Khalaf, the accident happened when she ran
at full pace into some lighting equipment on set.
She was apparently so in the moment that she initially thought she'd only stubbed her toe.
"I kept shooting and just thought I'd stubbed my toe.
I was a real soldier, very brave."
Though the injury reportedly slowed down the filming process, the actress seemed to remain
in good spirits, as she posted a cheery-looking picture on Instagram of the cast celebrating
Thanksgiving as she wore a foot brace!
Fans of the Mamma Mia! movies are all too familiar with what is arguably one of the
most delightful cameos in movie musical history.
In the first movie's "Dancing Queen" sequence, an old Greek woman is seen walking and carrying
a large pile of sticks on her back.
When she hears the uplifting sound of ABBA's "Dancing Queen," she tosses the sticks to
the ground, and joins in the dancing fray.
It's no wonder that the director and producers of the second film wanted the old woman to
make a triumphant return in the second movie.
And sure enough, when "Dancing Queen" is reprised in the second film, the very same woman appears
with her sticks.
Talk about a cinematic Easter egg!
Both Mamma Mia! movies feature stellar credits sequences that are sure to have viewers dancing
out of the theaters - or out of their living rooms.
In the first movie, the entire cast danced along to "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo," all
dressed in sequined outfits straight out of the 1970s.
In the second movie, the credit sequence was similar, with the whole cast dancing to "Super
Trouper."
However, unlike the dancing in the first film's credits, the dancing seen in the credits of
the sequel was actually all improvised.
Awards Daily spoke to Ol Parker, director of the sequel, who said,
"When they're dancing in "Super Trouper," that's all real.
We played the song loudly and sent them off to different corners."
The best bits were then cherry-picked for inclusion in the final movie.
Of course, it's incredibly funny to imagine the cast members choreographing these segments
themselves - especially considering that the older men who decided to yuk it up drinking
beer at the bar!
Recalling the sequence, Parker said the cast had a, quote, "absolute hoot" doing the sequence.
And we have an absolute hoot watching them!
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