Might I be ridiculous? Might my career in music be laughable? Yeah, that's possible, but that's certainly not my intention.

I didn't know much about him, and I wasn't a big country music fan. I listened to the Beatles and David Bowie, so I didn't know a lot about him.

What was nice for me was not knowing anything about music and not being a singer or player and kind of discovering what that was like instead of having a set way of doing things.

It was magical to be able to explore the young Johnny Cash and his music. But you worry about people's expectations. There's a concern about people saying, 'Well, that's not Johnny Cash'.

Jim didn't want an impersonation,

In most films - especially in regards to the protagonist - really from the get-go they set up some scenario that endears that character to the audience. Or imbues him with some nobility or heroism or something.