Alicia Witt first came to fame as a child actress after being discovered by David Lynch, who cast her in Dune (1984) and Twin Peaks (1990). Other films include Mr. Holland’s Opus, Vanilla Sky, Two Weeks Notice, Urban Legend, Last Holiday and 88 Minutes. She has made television appearances in The Walking Dead, Nashville, The Librarians, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Cybill (87 episodes), Friday Night Lights, Justified, CSI: Miami and Orange Is the New Black.

In addition to acting, Witt is a professional singer-songwriter and pianist and is reported to have been a musical prodigy. She can currently be seen in Lifetime’s The Disappearance of Cari Farver. The movie is based on a true story and is the subject of Leslie Rule’s bestselling true crime book, A Tangled Web. The Disappearance of Cari Farver also stars Lea Thompson and Zach Gilford.

In a new interview with Smashing Interviews Magazine, Witt discusses working on the set of Nashville with her musical hero Elton John:

Smashing Interviews Magazine: Who are some of your musical influences?

Alicia Witt: Gosh. That’s a long list. I got to see one of them for the fifth time on Sunday, Elton John. I could start to cry if I talk about what he means to me. I had the privilege of working with him on an episode of Nashville a few years back. But I didn’t get to talk to him or get to know him or talk music. I still hope with all my heart that I’ll get an opportunity to do that at some point. But I loved to just to watch him, to absorb him, to see how much, even after all these years, he clearly loves it and puts his whole heart into every song. Even when we were working on the set, he was in a hurry because he had to make it to Roanoke for a show. He was on his private plane with his band, and as a favor to T-Bone and Callie, he flew in from Atlanta.

He was meant to be there for an hour and a half at the most, so they were prepared to film his performance a couple of times and move on to the scene where he was going to be speaking and acting with me and Sam Palladio, and then he would take off. But when he arrived, to everyone’s surprise, he wanted to perform the songs six times and make sure they got it just so as a duet with Sam. As if that wasn’t enough, he played “Your Song” and “Rocket Man” for the audience, for the background players that were assembled just because he knew that would mean something to them.

Smashing Interviews Magazine: Very cool.

Alicia Witt: Then we did the scene, and he was 100% off book. He’d prepared and knew all his lines. I think Sam and I were stumbling over our lines more than he was because we were like, “Oh, my goodness! It’s Elton John!” They had cue cards up for him thinking he wouldn’t have time, and he never looked at them once. He was such a joy. What an inspiration. As a piano playing singer-songwriter, he’s top of the list. Others are Shawn Colvin, Tom Waits, KT Tunstall, Brandy Clark, John Mayer and Ray LaMontagne.

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About the authors:

Marc Parker is an American journalist, author, artist, a photographer and a computer scientist. He is the founder/publisher/editor-in-chief of Smashing Interviews Magazine. Marc Parker's social media: Twitter Facebook

Melissa Benefield Parker is an American journalist and author. She is the founder/publisher of Smashing Interviews Magazine. Melissa Benefield Parker's social media: Twitter Facebook