Grace VanderWaal on Being a Role Model, Megalopolis, and New Music

Grace VanderWaal He won the hearts of the country as a 12-year-old ukulele-wielding boy America’s Got Talent. VanderWaal, who is now a 20-year-old singer and actor, has released two singles in the last two months and will act as an actor in the coming period, is preparing for a new album. Francis Ford Coppola film Megalopolis.

just a day ago The movie will be released in cinemasVanderWaal spoke Hollywood Reporter We talked via Zoom about his experience working on the film, how he has developed musically, and what he is passionate about these days.

He made his acting debut at Disney. star girlThe 20-year-old isn’t ruling out more projects in the future, but he seems to be focusing on his next album. VanderWaal, who spent most of his formative years in the public eye, says his next album is “heavy” but an accurate look at what he’s going through right now.

“There’s really no resolution to the album because what I’m experiencing mentally right now is like a freeze in time,” he says. TR. “I thought it was moving and artistic because it’s very real and a little dark, but reality has no resolution.”

Below, VanderWaal gets candid about both her career and her life outside. music and acting.

What was your experience working on it? Megalopolis? How were you feeling going into this and now that it’s finally coming out, how do you feel?

The experience on set and doing my part was really creative and very collaborative. I felt like I could make absolutely everything my own. He was quite free in that respect. Going into it, I feel like I don’t tend to process things, so I guess I was just like… It wasn’t quite real yet. Maybe that’s a good thing because it doesn’t allow me to get angry. I go into things a little carelessly. I’ve seen the movie a few times and I’m really excited for it to be released. I am happy with what I gave to the project and overall I am a very small part of this huge portrait. This stunned me, and that’s why I’m even happy to be the little finger of the beast.

How familiar were you with Francis Ford Coppola and his work before signing on to the project? Most of your work appeared before you were born, so what was your introduction to it?

Even though he’s a little before our time, I think his work has established itself in the history of cinema, it’s simply timeless. His work will evolve through generations and generations and generations. Frankly, I was very aware of not only his films but also his name. This has almost become a pop culture thing… Coppola. You can be watching cartoons and they make jokes and you always know it’s his movie. (Laughs) These are (his) movies. I knew exactly who he was and Godfather and all of his truly iconic works.

your inner character Megalopolis She is a young woman who is targeted by two men who are trying to play a power game against each other. What specifically was it about this story that attracted you to the project?

Many things drew me to Vesta. I really never go to projects just to keep doing them. I thought what showed his (Coppola’s) quality in films was that every detail could have a byproduct. He is a very detailed and unique person. It’s not important. It could be something extra and it’s like you’re saying: oh, this is a multi-dimensional character. I liked how the virgin aspect was brought to modern times. I thought it was a very clear commentary on the very conservative pop stars we have today. And you may think to yourself how you can hear the Vestal Virgins in Rome and how overwhelming and how crazy that is. This history was like that at one point, but in fact it is largely still that way. I really liked this. I think that’s a big part of the movie, we can only look back and think about what a disaster this was while we’re now living in the playbook. I really, really liked the purity culture aspect. Obviously she is a singer and they have a personal relationship.

Do you think you will continue acting in the future?

This was really inspiring for me and made me want to be involved in more great things, but I feel like great things are rare and require patience. So if something great came across my desk, I would definitely participate and be a part of it.

Your single, “Call it What You Want,” released in August, felt like a bridge between the music you had previously released and your most recent single, “What’s Left of Me.” artist. Was this intentional?

That was pretty much exactly it. It was really intentional. When I came to Pulse Records with an album, a world, and a concept, we were thinking, “How can I lead people to this in a way that makes me feel most comfortable and safe?” I don’t want the project to have shock value and be discredited that way. It was really important for us to slowly integrate my new project into the music that people know and that I make.

Did you ever feel like you were put in a box musically because of where you started?

Yes, but only by myself. I think we end up telling ourselves that people only love us for one thing and that we’re probably limiting ourselves more than anyone on the outside would ever do. So I felt oppressed and stuck, but I thought that was largely due to my own spiral.

As you enter your 20s, can you look back on the time you had? America’s Got Talent In a new light?

I’m happy. I’m so happy with everything that went down. America’s Got Talent It was nothing. I mean, it’s such a machine that it actually… you know what I mean? You just go through the motions and they make it really easy to do it. I think there will be a remaster after this because it could be really nice to experience this. I think the hardest thing about the industry is that there is no set game plan, formula or even daily routine to follow. I think a lot of people can feel really lost. You basically have to compensate for that. It is unique to everyone. It’s very strange in that way, but I think everything happens in its time for a reason and I’m happy with where I am and the music.

Have there been any musicians who have been with you or mentored you over the years?

No. No, not really. So there may always be brief communication, but no, there is absolutely no close relationship or mentoring. Very funny. Even my company was like, “Oh, do you have any famous friends or people in the industry?” And I said, “No, I have almost no friends in my own life.” I definitely don’t have any famous friends.

How do you reintroduce the world to Grace today? What do you want people to know about you as you grow into adulthood, versus the bias they might have about who you are on TV when you’re 12 years old?

I love creating and producing things that I want to consume myself. In fact, that’s why I’m confident in what I do, because I’m a person who also loves listening to music and seeing artists doing great things. I like quality. I love thought and art and that’s all you need to know about me and if you like those things or desire those things, I might be the one to have fun with it in the near future.

What do you do when you’re not involved in music?

I love watching movies and television, and I absolutely love decorating my home. This is a big hobby of mine, discovering things to make my house even crazier. Hanging out with my cat is literally what I do when I’m not working.

What are you passionate about these days?

Considering my development and what I’ve been through, I’ve been exposed to so much. Especially with the internet, I can see… So almost as a living social experiment, I saw how the world took a little girl who loved to sing, and that was a very difficult situation for me that I still struggle with. I think when something is that strong… there was a lot of disgust there and then it turned into admiration because I wanted to explain why it was like that, if so, does that make sense? I’m very, very passionate and inspired by historically patriarchal values ​​and systems, as well as how they subconsciously still affect every person today without realizing it. And what kind of lens does that put on how people view me personally and how I view people and other women? I think it’s an interesting coding that we all live by these invisible numbers, sort of working out how to perceive things. This is probably the number one thing I’m passionate about and always want to learn more about and can talk about for hours.

How were you able to balance being a role model to young women growing up while still doing it yourself?

I never felt pressure to be a role model because I was 12 and 13 years old. It’s just innate pressure, not even pressure, I mean for good reason, but obviously I’m protecting myself in a sense. I guess it kind of made me a “good role model” because I followed the rules and did everything, but I guess people don’t understand that I wasn’t just a 13-year-old kid who fell out of the sky. My mother was watching everything I did. It’s there most of the time. I won’t be able to say in an interview, “Me and my friends are doing this secretly,” and my mom will be there. I don’t want to say I don’t want to be a role model these days, but I’m definitely not preparing myself to be that person. I’m still tearing apart a lot of feelings about myself. I’m definitely not in that situation… I feel like with this album and everything I dive into, it’s so heavy and the album doesn’t really have a resolution because it’s a freezing of time that I’m in. going through it mentally right now. I thought it was moving and artistic because it’s very real and a little dark, but reality has no resolution. Sometimes you go over things and there’s no greater meaning or lesson you get from it. You just passed and now you have to carry this with you. This is a hard thing to grieve and get over. So when I do that, I’m happy to tell people, but I don’t want people to think, “This spoke to me and sparked these emotions. How can I overcome these? And I will say this: “I don’t know either. “I don’t know either.”