Valerie Bertinelli says filmmakers need to “make sure I’m dead” before committing to a biopic about her late ex-husband, Eddie Van Halen.
“Oh god, I hope they never do one of Van Halen,” Bertinelli exclaimed on Monday’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. The former actress said she’s already spoken about it with their son, Wolfgang “I told Wolfie, ‘Make sure I’m dead.’”
The conversation follows comments Alex Van Halen made in an interview with Rolling Stone while promoting his memoir, Brotherslate last year. The drummer said plans were in motion for a biopic based on the Van Halen band’s history.
“It’s just a long-term plan,” he said. “I mean, the Queen movie (2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody) took 30 years to make.”
Bertinelli also used the interview to counter a longstanding belief among certain portions of the Van Halen fanbase that she added to the band’s tumult and member changes.
“I have been called Yoko in my day,” she said, in reference to John Lennon’s widow, Yoko One, but she believes that comparison also points to a false narrative.
“As if I had the power to break up a band! Yoko’s an amazing woman. She’s an artist, and she did not break up the Beatles. The Beatles had their own issues.”
As did Van Halen. Wolfgang has previously stated that the band’s final reunion with David Lee Roth wouldn’t have happened without him, such was the extent of shattered relationships.
Bertinelli believes everyone should shoulder the blame equally.
“It wasn’t all Ed’s fault, okay?” she told Barrymore. “I’m just going to put that out there. Everybody loves to blame Ed, and he can’t defend himself. Nowhere near was it all Ed’s fault… He just wanted to write his music and play his music.”
It’s just a long-term plan. The Queen movie took 30 years to make
Alex Van Halen on a EVH biopic
The world was treated to a posthumous Eddie Van Halen release last year when Alex Van Halen released the final song they had worked on. However, the drummer has since divided opinion with his hopes of using AI to finish the “little pieces” of ideas he left behind into an album, of which Michael Anthony says there is a vast archive.
Eddie’s longtime friend Steve Lukather has since been tapped up for the project, which Alex believes will help celebrate his brother’s legacy. However, the guitarist has clarified his role in the record’s creation and says he won’t play a single note on it.
Wolfgang, meanwhile, has opened up on the whole his father’s death created in his life, and how his grief pushed him toward a new musical chapter.
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