Pixar is known for stunning animated films that move you and Turning Red is no different. ’Turning Red’ is a brilliantly crafted coming of age story about a young Chinese- Canadian named Mei voiced by Rosalie Chian, who is obsessed with the fictional 2000’s boy band, 4*Town.
Screen Rant had the opportunity to speak with the members of 4*Town to talk about their musical inspirations and about how Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas helped bring the boy band to life.
Screen Rant. 4*Town is here, guys. How you are guys doing? Turning Red is amazing. Jordan, Grayson, Josh, Topher. Thank you guys so much for joining me. I absolutely love the film. It has so much heart and such a great story, and it really explores a great relationship between mother and daughters. But you guys are at the center of this, 4*Town. Now the movie gives a short description of each of your heartthrob personas. We got Robaire, who's more of the solo heartthrob. Tae Young is the cute one. We got Aaron Z, the sporty one, and Aaron T is the goofy one.
In your real personas, how much do you identify with each one of your characters? And we'll start with you, Jordan.
Jordan Fisher: You know what I love one of the first renderings that I saw of Robaire was him sipping a cup of coffee with a book in his hand. That's me! My wife and I moved to Florida. I hadn't been in LA for the last 15 years and we move into Florida so that I can have a cup of coffee with a book in my hand and watch golfers in the morning. Like, that's my speed. That's my relatability there, for sure.
I love that. Now. Grayson, do you, do you feel like you would be the cute one if you guys were really 4*Town?
Grayson Villanueva: I would say that I embody a little bit more of that wholesome energy and I think that's what my character does. So yeah.
Josh, I mean, we got, we got Aaron Z, who's more like the sporty one. Would you say that you'd be the sporty one out of the group?
Josh Levi: I am athletic, but honestly what connects me and Aaron Z the most is just the baggy pants, always wearing baggy pants.
I love it. Now, also Topher, Aaron T, he's more the goofy one. Do you feel like you would've embodied that one?
Topher Ngo: Yeah, a hundred percent. I feel like in my friend group, I am the most extra and loud and flamboyant. So yeah, I love Aaron T.
All of you guys are accomplished singers in your own right. Can you talk to me about working and collaborating with Billy Eilish and Finneas O'Connell? They really mastered that early 90s or sorry, early 2000s, like pop sound. Could you talk to me about collaborating with them? We'll start with you Jordan.
Jordan Fisher: They're obviously forces of nature and are so masterful at what they do for them to tap into a genre that is outside the realm of like what we know them to do and to create is, was, is really cool and unique and exciting just as of creative to watch them go through that process and to build and create that's been really, really, it was, it was so sweet. Finneas be on the ground with us, and getting his hands dirty with us. In the booth just adjacent to all of ours, right up there at the mic, singing the stuff that he, that he built and created with the sisters, such a cool familial experience in that way. In terms of collaboration, I mean, that's much favorite way to music and to be able to do with all of the faces that you see here right now. I mean, these guys are just rock stars. To be surrounded by all of that energy and talent for a few days, and for it to all be for, for Pixar and for Disney, just dream.
Working with Billy Eilish and Finneas must be dream come true for all of you guys, let alone being in a Disney Pixar film. Josh, what did you learn the most from the collaboration process with Billie Eilish and Finneas?
Josh Levi: That's a great question. I have a real love for those two and the utmost respect for what they do and how they create and what they did create. Funny enough. I don't know if the other three guys read sheet music, do you guys read sheet music? Okay. Yeah. Well, I was lost. I was not prepared. I did not know how to read music like that. I used to when I was younger. I think I walked away with a little bit of, barely, not even really the idea of reading sheet music, I think I had a better sense of that walking away from the process
Topher Ngo: You killed it, man, though, you killed it.
Josh Levi: I was guessing up a storm.
Grayson Villanueva: Good guesses.
Topher, this is really one of your first big projects. What did you learn while making Turning Red?
Topher Ngo: This is like one of my first big projects. Like being able to collaborate with such high level high, talented, skilled musicians. I think one of the biggest things I learned is being able to come and kind of play and, trust that there are other people in the room that are also just as talented and amazing as these other guys are.
The music feels like it's ripped out of TRL from MTV in the early 2000s straight away. Now look, the one thing that's really cool about this movie is that Turning Red doesn't really make fun of the boy bands, but it really celebrates them. We're going to start with you Grayson, who is your favorite boy band of all time? Past or present?
Grayson Villanueva: Ooh, I got to say NSYNC. NSYNC is my favorite boy band. They just did acapella so well. I am an acapella nerd. I have that background and I understand like harmonies and I just loved everything they did with all their arrangements. So, NSYNC!
Jordan Fisher: Well, I mean, being a 90s kid, NSYNC was kind of always the go-to, but into my adulthood and deeper into my blackness. You know, my love for Jagged Edge and New Edition is insane. My favorite of all times is The Temptations though, if we're talking boy bands.
Josh Levi: Man, it's Boyz 2 Men, all day, every day for me. It's just like the soundtrack. Like I'll probably have them singing my wedding. Just, I feel like you can't lose with them.
Topher Ngo: I have to go with BTS. Cause they're so iconic and everything from like the songwriting and the lyrics and melody, but also they're dancing is in insane, perfectly in sync. Yeah.
Your characters actually perform these dance moves and it was almost like it was pulled out of these early 2000 music videos. Have you gotten a chance to watch those back and have you tried working on any of those dance moves yourself?
Jordan Fisher: I won 1-800'd, a VHS copy of Darrin's Dance Grooves in 2003. And I learned all of those dances. Like I learned them, I learned Jordan Knight's stuff and back Street Boys and NSYNC and Britney Spears like early 2000s choreography. Cause Darrin Henson was like the guy and he made this, master class essentially in VHS form. I wore that thing out. It like started to discolor at a certain point. Cause I just wore that tape out. I come from school, I would put the tape right in and go crazy.
This one's for you Topher, just out of curiosity. Was Finneas in the booth with you guys performing the songs?
Topher Ngo: Yes he was. When they had us all out in the studio, they had individual booths, all set. We got like a good eye line for each other was like windows in each of our booths. We got to like, like connect and jam. Yeah.
Grayson, what did you want to bring to the role of, let me, what did you want to bring to the role of Tae Young that you, that wasn't necessarily on the page?
Grayson Villanueva: One of the things that I was super excited to bring to the table for Tae Young when I heard the demos come in, my reaction was 'Whoa, is there, beatboxing in this song?'. In this song and in this song, I just thought it would be cool if I could beatbox on these songs. That's what I ended up doing. I was able to reach out to the music department and I was just like, Hey, here's my beatbox demo. Like, do what you want with this. Let's see if we can make this happen. And we did. And that was so fun.
What about you guys? What, what else did you guys want to bring to the role that wasn't necessarily on the page? Jordan, we'll go with you.
Jordan Fisher: It's brand new, the concept of a boy band for Pixar is brand new. It’s really just kind of all on the material. We got to just go in and instantly be a part of something that had never been done before. That was really great. The diversity of all of it is also really great when you see all these guys up there and, you're seeing all, all sorts of different walks of life and that it's also, I think that I think that we all just like really wanted to celebrate it.
Turning Red is currently streaming on Disney+.