Christie Brinkley didn’t direct HBO’s new documentary on her ex, Billy Joel, but the supermodel certainly shot a lot of footage for the project.
Brinkley’s daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, 39, watched the new doc on her dad, “And So It Goes,” with Brinkley — and tells Page Six that her mom’s obsession with documenting their family life helped provide some magical moments in the two-part film.
“It was really incredible to see, I cried I laughed. My mom cried,” she told us of seeing the film together.
“You know I watched it with my mother and it was quite a trip down memory lane — and shout out to my mom too because she provided so much of the archival footage that you see… [the] footage of my parents when they were together, and all the magic.”
The “Piano Man” legend and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit icon were married from 1985 to 1994. The film covers their whirlwind romance, which inspired Joel’s 1983 hit, “Uptown Girl.” Alexa was born in 1985, and Joel wrote the song, “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel),” about her.
Alexa sat for four hours of interviews for the doc, and also appears in photos and video footage as a child.
“When I was young… she documented everything,” Alexa says of Brinkley. “She does it on her phone now, but back in the back in ’80s they had a video camera… so you know she had that on her shoulder [and] she didn’t miss a beat.”
Alexa adds: “It turned out to be a good use for this documentary, and you wouldn’t have all of those beautiful moments that you see. [Those] beautiful archives were provided by my mother… you see the magic. It’s not just the fact that she documented it… she documented it so well, she never misses a moment. She’s got to get everything captured. She’s got that always.”
For her own interviews in the doc, Alexa says, “I’ve been blessed to have a good memory, like both of my parents… I’m like a steel vault, like my parents. I don’t forget things.”
For example, she recalls her dad heading to Shelter Island to record his 1993 album, “River of Dreams,” and, “I remember my mom working tirelessly at the Further Lane house on the ‘River of Dreams’ album cover,” which Brinkley painted.
The film also details Joel’s family history of depression, and Alexa says the film helps destigmatize mental health struggles.
She told People Magazine: “Depression runs in my family. I’ve seen my father struggle with it. I’ve seen my grandmother struggle, and personally, I’ve experienced it as well,” adding that she’s “doing better these days and exercise really helps.”
She’ll serve as will serve as the celebrity grand marshal for the Hope for Depression Research Foundation’s 10th annual Race of Hope to Defeat Depression in Southampton Village on Aug. 3. Past grand marshals for founding chair Audrey Gruss’ event have also included Katie Couric and “Sex and the City” scribe Candace Bushnell.
Alexa’s new single, “Riverside Way,” out this summer, is from her new EP, “Tales From a Winding Tower.”
