Arguably the most gut-wrenching storyline in The Dirt centers around Motley Crue singer Vince Neil's daughter Skylar, who died from cancer in 1995 when she was only four years old. As the father of two children, director Jeff Tremaine tells us that he understandably found these scenes particularly difficult to shoot, and heaped praise upon Kamryn Ragsdale, who played Skylar at the end of her life.

"She was incredible," he says. "And that was a really emotional scene to shoot, I couldn't believe this little kid was bringing that to the table. She was unbelievable, easy to work with. She just put herself in the zone. I hated every second of being in that hospital scene."

As shown in the movie, Vince (Daniel Webber) was separated from his then-wife Sharise (Leven Rambin) when she calls to tell him that Skylar is in the hospital. When he arrives, he is informed that his daughter has cancer, although at first they tell her she has the flu. Scenes of Vince trying to explain to Skylar what's she's going through, her anguish at the number of operations she's had to endure and her death are interspersed with depictions of what the other members of the band were dealing with at the time.

But as difficult as Skylar's death was for Tremaine to capture, he feels that portraying it, as well as Neil's 1984 car crash and Nikki Sixx's drug problems make for a better film.

"I think of the movies that I like, and they're not just one thing," he adds. "Trainspotting takes you on a full roller coaster. And I'm not saying this movie is as good as Trainspotting, or not, but I love that movie for the ride it takes you on. There's a lot of dark shit, a lot of fun shit and everything in between. That's what I wanted to do with this movie, it's good and bad, it's fun and horror."

 

Meet the Cast of 'The Dirt'

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