Ask any country music fan who the most iconic singer of the genre is and there’s a good chance they’ll mention the name Johnny Cash.
Famous for hit songs like ‘Cry, Cry, Cry’, ‘Ring of Fire’, and ‘Get Rhythm’, Johnny Cash is one of the most influential country music singers in history. Though he sadly passed away in September of 2004, he had already agreed to the making of a biopic about his life.
Now thought of as one of Reese Witherspoon’s best movies, Walk the Line tells the story of Johnny Cash’s life.
Even though Reese, who played Johnny’s wife June Carter, is said to have had some minor problems with Joaquin Phoenix, who played Johnny, the film was a box office success.
But there was one important person who had a few issues with the film: Johnny’s daughter, Kathy Cash. Read on to find out why Kathy walked out of Walk the Line.
Johnny Cash’s Relationships And Children
The late country legend Johnny Cash first got married in 1954 to Vivian Liberto, with whom he had exchanged hundreds of love letters while he was serving in the Air Force in West Germany. They had four daughters together: Roseanna, Kathy, Cindy, and Tara.
After becoming a singing sensation, Johnny began to abuse drugs and alcohol, had affairs with other women, and was constantly on tour. As a result, Vivian filed for divorce in 1966. Later in 1986, Johnny married June Carter, a fellow country singer with whom he had fallen in love after the two toured together.
Upon marrying June, Johnny became a step-father to June’s two daughters, Carlene and Rosie. In 1970, Johnny and June welcomed a son together: John Carter Cash. Johnny and June remained happily married until they both passed away in 2004, a year before the film Walk the Line was released.
2005’s ‘Walk The Line’
Walk the Line depicts the life of Johnny Cash from his days as a boy on the cotton fields of Arkansas to his time in the spotlight.
The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash, who was paid a reported $3.5 million for the role, and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter.
As well as providing a timeline of his life as a musician, the film also depicts Johnny’s home life, showing his substance abuse problems, infidelity, and his growing infatuation with June Carter while he was married to Vivian.
Kathy Cash Walked Out Of The Family Screening
According to Fox News, Kathy Cash, Johnny and Vivian’s second daughter, walked out of the family screening of Walk the Line at least five times.
While she agreed that the performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon were worthy of two Oscar wins, she felt that the movie depicted her mother, Vivian, in an unfair light.
“My mom was basically a nonentity in the entire film except for the mad little psycho who hated his career,” Kathy explained. “That’s not true. She loved his career and was proud of him until he started taking drugs and stopped coming home.”
Kathy also revealed that she felt the movie lacked any heartfelt scenes with Johnny and his children and didn’t show the pain that the singer’s substance abuse and the subsequent divorce caused his children.
The Portrayal Of Vivian In ‘Walk The Line’
In Walk the Line, Vivian is portrayed in a negative light compared to June. Played by Ginnifer Goodwin, Vivian is shown to be jealous and possessive over Johnny when he starts to become successful. It also shows her not supporting his career and making demands of him.
Towards the end of the film, Johnny and Vivian get into a physical altercation—a scene that makes Vivian look incredibly unhinged and unsympathetic to her former husband’s pain.
Roseanne Cash Found The Movie Painful
Kathy Cash wasn’t the only one of Johnny’s daughters who found the film hard to watch. According to the Crimson, His eldest daughter Roseanne refused to go to the premiere, instead opting to watch Walk the Line at home with her daughter.
Roseanne later said that she found the movie to be “painful” to watch because, “it had the three most damaging events of my childhood: my parents' divorce, my father’s drug addiction, and something else bad that I can’t remember now.”
The Response From Johnny’s Son, John Carter Cash
John Carter Cash, the only child of Johnny and June, served as an executive producer for Walk the Line. In response to the criticism from his half-sisters Roseanne and Kathy, John admitted that he understands where they’re coming from.
"I'm compassionately understanding," he said (via Fox News). John went on to explain that he wanted to depict the relationship between Johnny and June and that the movie succeeded in highlighting their love: "The point of the film is my parents' love affair."