Daryl Hannah, 64, On Her Intimate Film About Husband Neil Young, 79: ‘He Trusts Me — He Didn’t Put Any Limits On Anything’

What will viewers find surprising?

I had a big struggle in the editing room, because I was always trying to cut around the times he was looking into the camera and talking to me. In the end, I decided to include some because there’s a real warmth and light and beautiful openness in those moments that I’ve never seen in a documentary about Neil, and I’ve seen them all. People imagine that he’s intimidating and mercurial, and don’t think about him as a dad and a human. His smile is like a child’s.

While filming on her iPhone, Hannah managed to capture Young in many beautiful, intimate moments. “There’s a real warmth and light and beautiful openness in those moments that I’ve never seen in a documentary about Neil,” Hannah says.

Courtesy Daryl Hannah

How tough was it to prune so much footage down to less than two hours?

Hard. You have to comb through everything, and you don’t know if you have anything until you’re in the editing process. The biggest heartbreak is when we discovered that we accidentally put a microphone in a cup holder right over the engine of the bus. We had no audio on the bus for the entire tour, and I did not want a documentary of just songs. We found a genius sound woman who figured out how to get the noise and thunks out.

Was it disruptive when people recognized you and approached you as you were filming?

There were a lot of moments spoiled by that, mostly because I was filming on my iPhone, and some people didn’t take it seriously. I was thinking of putting tape on my sweatshirt saying, “I’m filming. Don’t talk to me!"  There’s a brief shot after the Anson Ford show of Joni Mitchell and Neil catching up. The audio was terrible because everyone was chatting with me.

Did Neil give you free rein?

One of the great things about our relationship is that he trusts me creatively completely. He didn’t put any limits on anything. I didn’t show him the film until we were done. He likes the first take of recording. He sees something and gets attached. So I didn’t want him to see an early version. I was a little nervous, because I thought it might be too personal. But it’s not grossly reality-show invasive. It’s intimate. He was comfortable with it and really loves it.

Are there any drawbacks to being married to your film subject?

Not really. We work a lot together. I film all the time. And I do the stage design and the videos. It’s helpful because we don’t have awkward moments of bringing someone new in.

In addition to the harmonica, Young plays acoustic and 12-string guitars, piano and pump organ on "Coastal." That whirl of instruments was a filmmaking challenge for Hannah. “I didn’t know what he would play or what instruments, and I didn’t have 20 cameras to place around the stage," she says.

Courtesy Daryl Hannah

You’ve become Neil’s film biographer, with your 2018 directorial debut, the fantasy musical Paradox, plus Mountaintop (2019) and Barn (2022), chronicling his collaboration with Crazy Horse. Are they somehow connected?

I do see a throughline. Mountaintop had a lot of aggro moments with testosterone flying around. When I was making Barn, I knew they would be recording in a barn and that I would have to hide. There’s a famous line: “Don’t spook the horse.” The guys do not want to see anyone or be interrupted or have a camera there. Sometimes I wasn’t allowed to go in at all. Barn was anti-Mountaintop and had a more enchanted, magical quality. I knew the shape I wanted Coastal to have, and it basically came out that way, which is a miracle because you usually can’t predict that.

Did your experience as an actress help you make the leap to directing?

Oh, 100 percent. I’ve been in love with film my whole life. My uncle was the great, lauded cinematographer Haskell Wexler (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest). I spent decades on sets, and I was always curious and trying to learn when I was not in a scene. And there’s a certain amount of osmosis. You just absorb things.  Directing is a more natural fit for me, because I’m not comfortable being the center of attention. I love acting, but I don’t love the self-promotion.

As someone who was very shy and struggling with autism, how did you summon the courage to get in front of the camera?

It’s kind of wonderful that Blade Runner was my first big movie. I would go to set in the morning and not one crew member would know who I was. I looked so different from the character that no one recognized me. That’s exactly what I wanted, to just disappear into another character. In those days, the post-production took a long time, a year or two. There were no computers. I had done maybe five or six movies before any of them came out. When recognition and the press kicked in, it was very uncomfortable. I’m never interested in talking about myself or my personal life.

For the documentary, Hannah captured Young delivering such rarely performed tunes as “I’m the Ocean,” “Prime of Life” and “Vampire Blues.”

Courtesy Daryl Hannah

You’re a longtime environmental activist with a few protest arrests on your record. We’re seeing more people take to the streets. Is it effective?

I do think it’s effective and important to be counted and make your voice heard. Obviously, the goal is not to get arrested. We have to remember that in our governmental structure, those people work for us. If people are not happy with the way things are being run, it’s imperative to let them know.

Courtesy Daryl Hannah

The companion live album to the documentary, “Coastal: The Soundtrack,” includes 11 songs recorded on the tour.

How do you stay positive?

Small joys and wonders. I have a mini horse, Romeo, that I rescued. I love taking him to visit children with life-threatening illnesses or people with dementia. I was letting him in the pasture, and I found a four-leaf clover. These little moments of joy give us the fuel to be positive. Art and music fill us with positive energy. That’s why I have the motto “Love life.” If you love something, you’ll fight to keep it alive and healthy and thriving.

What’s your next career move? Another Neil film?

I will probably film his European tour this summer, but I hope my next job will be my narrative film, which he won’t have a part in. Today I’m turning in a screenplay that my best friend and I wrote. I want to direct it. It’s a dark comedy, and I don’t want to say more about it because people steal ideas.