About a year ago at this time, we were waiting for the premiere of “Ricki of the Flash,” in which Rick Springfield played Greg, a nice aging rocker who played in a bar band with his girlfriend (played by Meryl Streep). Yesterday, it was announced that RS is filming another aging rocker role – but one very different from Greg.
In the TV series “Supernatural,” he is going to be Vince Vincente, an aging rock star trying to make a comeback and whose body provides a vessel for Lucifer. I’ve never watched “Supernatural” and hadn’t even heard of it until last week, so I can’t explain what that means, but I’m sure RS will do a great job. He also played an out-of-control aging rock star in “Drop Dead Diva” in 2014; in 2009, he played a narcissistic rock star version of himself on “Californication”; and in 2007 he played rock star Eli Love on “General Hospital.” And of course, his role of Jamie Roberts in his 1984 film debut, “Hard to Hold.” Sometime this year, the film “Traces” is supposed to come out, where he’ll play Carl, a record store owner. Not sure if Carl was a rock star before he opened the record store. (He also played a very creepy non-rock star, Dr. Irving Pitlor on “True Detective” in 2015.)
In the tweets following the announcement of this “Supernatural” role, some tweeters tweeted about whether RS would now sing “Jessie’s Girl” at future comic-cons.
There always seems to be a “Jessie’s Girl” comment no matter what RS does. But it did make me realize that RS would actually be a great guest at a comic-con because if that was something he’d be interested in, he certainly would be qualified. His 1970s credits include “Wonder Woman,” “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “The Incredible Hulk” and “Battlestar Galactica.” He was even a cartoon in “Mission Magic!” and “Family Guy.”
The list of his acting credits is long (check out his IMDb credits to see for yourself, if you’re not aware of all his acting work; there are many non-rocker roles and he has also done musical theater.)
So just as he’s much more than “Jessie’s Girl” in his musical career, he’s more than Dr. Noah Drake in his acting career. And in addition to his musical and acting accomplishments, there’s also his bestselling books – his memoir “Late, Late at Night” and his novel, “Magnificent Vibration.”
In real life, RS is more of an ageless rock star. With a new album that came out earlier this year (“Rocket Science”), the new film scheduled to come out sometime this year (“Traces”), a national tour (with both full-band shows and solo shows) and now this TV show (“Supernatural”), this rock star sure has a lot going on.
Here are other sources that highlight his acting roles: