WAMG At The JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS Press Day

As a small-town girl catapults from underground video sensation to global superstar, she and her three sisters begin a one-in-a-million journey of discovering that some talents are too special to keep hidden.  In Universal Pictures’ JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS, four aspiring musicians will take the world by storm when they see that the key to creating your own destiny lies in finding your own voice.

Last week, WAMG got to sit down with stars Aubrey Peeples (Jem) and Ryan Guzman (Rio) in a small press conference to talk about their experience working on the film. Check out some of the highlights below!

Jon Chu said you were a very analog girl but also very modern. Can you talk a little about the process you went through to get the role and were you familiar with JEM beforehand? 

Aubrey Peeples: I was not familiar with JEM beforehand. As soon as we found out what this was, we did all our research… but it was under wraps what the project was. It was originally called “Hashtag Famous” then “Pink Moon” because they didn’t want people to know that they were doing JEM yet. But, we all auditioned several times… probably like five or six times each. The first time I met with Jon (Chu)I thought I blew it. It was so bad. My car broke down on the way there. I parked in a no parking zone. They had to move my car for me. I was like “It’s a stick shift” and they had to find someone [to move it]. I was really sweaty because of running trying to find a parking meter. I was like “I’m so sorry. I’m gross”. I think what ended up happening was Jon was like “Oh, she is quirky, just like the character”. I’m just very disorganized and messy.  I had to sing at almost every audition so it was a very long process but very collaborative.

You guys got to work with bona-fide rocker chick/actress Juliette Lewis. What was that like? 

Aubrey Peeples: She has been my role model for such a long time. I was so embarrassed when I first met her because I was like “Oh my God. We’re gonna be best friends!” But she’s so cool.

Ryan Guzman: I just ran up to her and called her “mom” right away and she gave me a weird look. We had a whole conversation about Brad Pitt. It was fun.

Ryan you were the bad boy next door in that movie with Jennifer Lopez and this character is very different. 

Ryan Guzman: Yeah, what I did in THE BOY NEXT DOOR I definitely didn’t do in this one or it would be a different rating. [Laughs] But, it was awesome that I got to be a part of something so iconic and honestly one of the best parts of it was listening to these girls sing. I swear. That was one of the most nerve-wracking things for me. When they asked me to actually sing after listening to Aubrey sing, it was so intimidating. It’s one of those things that I think will captivate a very broad audience.

In doing your research, how much of the comic books and show did you pull into this and how much was your own musical background? 

Aubrey Peeples: We studied the series constantly. We had to do our research. I think the movie is very much updated, but musically, I feel like this movie is very accessible to pop radio which is awesome and for, me. I had to do my research on that. I wasn’t used to it. But [producer] Scooter Braun is incredible and he kind of led the way to that. The music is gonna be super cool for fans.

Was it hard to get into the actual character? And when a lot of this movie resting on your shoulders, both music and acting, which do you feel is the most challenging for you as an actress? 

Aubrey Peeples: I do think that Jerrica/JEM is very different from me. I do think she’s very much a character. I don’t feel like we have a lot of similarities except for the fact that I really have no idea how to use the internet either. I guess it’s challenging when you’re playing someone so different from you but for me, as an actor, that’s what I prefer because that’s what you can really sink your teeth info. I think the most important thing about this is that we did want to pay homage to the series while updating it. That’s something that we had to be very careful about and respectful of.

Directed by Jon M. Chu (Step Up series, G.I. Joe: Retaliation), the musical adventure stars Aubrey Peeples, Stefanie Scott, Aurora Perrineau, Hayley Kiyoko, Ryan Guzman, Molly Ringwald and Juliette Lewis.  Jem and the Holograms, based on the iconic Hasbro animated TV series, is written by Ryan Landels and produced by Chu, Jason Blum for Blumhouse Productions, Scooter Braun for SB Projects, Bennett Schneir, and Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis of Hasbro Studios.

For more info: www.jemthemovie.com 

JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS is in theaters October 23