Mamma Mia! sequel helped Andy Garcia tick off dream Cher duet

Actor Andy Garcia relished the opportunity to sing with Cher in the new Mamma Mia! sequel because it was a “bucket list” dream to work with the pop superstar.
The two famous faces join the likes of Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, and Amanda Seyfried in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, the long-awaited follow-up to 2008’s movie musical, and singer/actress Cher reveals her role as the estranged mother of Streep’s character, was quite literally thrust upon her by studio head Ronald Meyer.
“The head of Universal (Pictures), who is my dear friend, who used to be my agent, called me and said, ‘You’re doing Mamma Mia 2,’ and hung up!” she laughed on breakfast show Today.
Cher had a great time on set, and even shows off her vocals onscreen to perform a cover of ABBA’s 1970s hit Fernando with Garcia.
“This was one of the most extraordinary adventures of my life,” she gushed. “Everyone was so gracious and they just loved me.”
It was also an experience Ocean’s Eleven star Andy will always treasure.
“There was a bucket list I had and Cher was on it, but I never imagined I was also gonna be singing (with her),” Andy confessed. “I was hoping to act (alongside her); I never imagined we’d be doing a duet together.”
The film, which incorporates the songs of ABBA, reunites Cher with Swedish bandmembers Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, who serve as executive producers on the project, after she previously featured in their 2004 promo, The Last Video – but she had to be reminded of the old collaboration.
“Do you know what I did, and I didn’t realise it?” she shared. “I was in one of their videos! I didn’t remember, and then they showed it to me and I was like, ‘Damn, I was!'”
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again also co-stars original castmembers Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Dominic Cooper, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgard, and opens in theatres this week (begs16Jul18).