ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Girl You Know It’s True star Matthias Schweighöfer about his role in the Milli Vanilli biopic movie. Schweighöfer discussed playing producer Frank Farian, his complicated legacy, and more. It will be released on August 9, 2024.
“Girl You Know It’s True is centered around the true story of the notorious scandal involving dancers Robert Pilatus’ (Tijan Njie) and Fabrice Morvan’s (Elan Ben) rise to fame in the late 1980s as “Milli Vanilli.” Orchestrated by music producer Frank Farian (Matthias Schweighofer), they became global stars with three No. 1 hits in the U.S.. But only a small circle of insiders know that the duo was not actually singing but rather lip-syncing to the voices of two other artists. At the height of their fame, Milli Vanilli won a Grammy Award, but the situation behind the scenes escalated, and the pressure on Rob and Fab grew. When the truth is revealed, they found themselves engulfed in one of the biggest scandals in music history,” says the synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Since you were a child when Milli Vanilli really got popular and all this actually happened, what are your memories of that time? Were you a Milli Vanilli fan, or what was your relationship there?
Matthias Schweighöfer: That’s a very interesting question. When the scandal happened about Milli Vanilli, it was the same time when the war came down in Germany. East Germany, West Germany, reunited. So, I kind of explored the pop duo a few years later when I was 15-17 and when I started to prep for this movie.
You play Frank Farian in the movie, and there’s a very complicated legacy he’s left behind. Because he helped create such great music, and just beyond all the lip-syncing and everything, there were also a lot of legal battles, as is touched on in this film, where there were manipulative contracts. What aspects did you really focus on for your portrayal of Frank?
I think first I started to work on, hey, what’s the human aspect of Frank? What was his dream? Why was he doing what he did? Feelings about what he really loved, what he was excited for, why did he make these decisions, and why didn’t he never tell the truth [about] what they’re really doing? Why did this happen? So first I focused on [that], and that was really helpful for me.
He wanted to have a number-one song in the States, and I totally understood that as a German. I’m always dreaming of having an Oscar one day, or maybe 2, 3, 4, 5 [laughs]. So, that was the thing I most focused on while we did the film. This maniac vision of him becoming a producer who has the number-one song in the world.
In this film, there’s a really interesting dynamic when Frank starts losing the duo to Los Angeles and to the record companies in the States. Because he feels like he’s invested in them, and they’re his. Obviously, he doesn’t own them, but there’s a real struggle there for somebody who’s obviously a control freak. So, what did you like most about that element of him losing control of his creation?
Yeah, that’s a fantastic question. Thank you so much. Really, I think, on the other hand, he always tried to dream big, but then when it happened, I think he couldn’t really realize that that was real, and he wanted to hold on to it. It’s always the thing to let things go, and he was holding on to it so tight and so heavy that [everything] was going wrong [and] that he made these weird and horrible decisions at the end.
Another thing I liked about this movie in particular, we’ve seen a lot of music biopics recently, but with this one, there’s a nice flare to it. It’s breaking the fourth wall. You’re talking directly into the camera at points, and it gives it a different feel from a lot of these other movies. What did you like most about that kind of meta aspect and going “Oh, they’re, they’re gonna sue me in a couple years,” and just breaking the fourth wall occasionally during these interludes in the film?
I mean, when we did it, I kind of liked it in general because what we are all doing is entertainment, and we [are] going to sell dreams. The director had to say, “Hey, talk to the people. Ask them what they would do in, in on in his position. What would they have done?” It’s interesting just to really ask yourself, “Hey, would I have killed my dream or would I have told the truth?” That’s what I really like with the fourth wall.
I really liked the actress that you work with who plays Milli, Bella Dayne, she’s really great in this film. What stood out about her as a scene partner? Because you two share some really good scenes.
Oh, yeah. She was great. I love Bella too. She was always super prepared, and she was acting her heart out. The same for Tijan and Elan, the boys. They’ve been awesome. They all did a great job.
It’s been really interesting seeing your projects the past couple of years because you’ve been alternating between these more serious drama roles with The Swimmers and Oppenheimer, and then you’ve done comedy so well in Army of Thieves and Family Switch. So, when you’re taking projects, are you thinking in the back of your head that you don’t want to get typecast? How do you kind of select your projects?
In Germany, it was sometimes very difficult because we don’t have this huge, um, field of genre, you know, where you could choose between an action threader or horror or, uh, uh, an adventure movie or a family entertainment, blah, blah, blah. So I love, you know, what I love about these movies sometimes I really like to be funny, and I like the rhythm to be funny. And I love drama and, and I love action. So now, you know, having the opportunity to work a bit more in the States, um, it’s amazing that I can choose between genres. So, and, uh, woo, you know, it’s, uh, it’s, uh, I love it because, uh, because, uh, the audience in America is, is wonderful. They, because they all, you know, they, they never judge you for, okay, now he’s doing comedy, now he’s doing drama now. He is a singer. It’s, uh, I love that. It’s, it’s, I I love to be entertaining.
You’re really great in Oppenheimer. Since you are a director yourself, what stood out about working with Christopher Nolan? You really got to see a master at work.
To be honest, I was so nervous all the time when we started shooting the film [because] it’s Christopher Nolan. But it was always very funny, on the other hand, because one of my closest friends is Zack Snyder, and it’s so funny to call Zack Snyder because he just spoke to his friend Christopher Nolan. That was always very weird to call Zack, and he said, “Oh, yeah, I just talked to Chris.” That was always very weird and funny at the same time because the world is small and they’re all friends. So, it was great. I learned a lot to work with him and yeah, of course, he’s a master director. He’s crazy. He is, I think, the best director at the moment in the world.
Are you looking to direct again soon, or do you have any idea of what’s next for you behind the camera?
So there will be a surprise. We will soon announce my next movie as a director. Maybe it will be very funny.
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