Disney+ Stargirl Movie Embraces Being Yourself Through This Insightful Interview With the Cast
With the last post we introduced you to the world of Stargirl, a new student at Mica High School, who believes in her own true self and doesn’t feel the need to fit it.
How many times have we tried to change who we are to make someone like us and to make sure to fit in? This movie teaches us that being ourselves is the way to go.
Graham Verchere (Leo), Karan Brar (Kevin), Collin Blackford (Benny), Juliocesar Chavez (Ferko) and Alex James (Zach) give us few more insights regarding their characters and the movie.
Can you tell us a bit more about your character?
GV: “Leo Borlock is a very, very, very normal kid. He has this little thing inside of him that wants to stand out a little bit. Like when he’s younger he’s super- he’s really into this archaeology type thing with his tutor, Archie, and he sings with his dad all the time. And then his dad dies, and he moves to a new town, and he gets bullied. And it kind of crushes that part of him down all the way, so he learns that he has to suppress that in order to fit in. But deep down he doesn’t want to. He wants to be himself. And then he meets this girl who isn’t at all afraid of that. And she tried to teach him that it’s okay. It’s a hard lesson to learn.”
KB: “So Kevin Sing is the Borlock’s best friend and the face of Hotze. Instead of just being the best friend, he’s kind of the leader of this pack, and it’s very interesting to watch this whole movie play through the lens of Leo. And it’s very interesting to see this young teenager who’s so ambitious in such a small town.”
CB: “So, I am in that — like the main four-friend group with Leo, Kevin, Tess and then me Benny. And I’m unfortunately the only one who they don’t let be a part of hot seat or ever be on hot seat. I’m kind of in my own world, and my favorite in the entire world is food. So, you’ll see in almost every scene I’m eating. Whether it’s burritos or hot dogs or popcorn, I am constantly eating. That’s just that funny thing that my character has. He’s just so obsessed and in his own world about that. He’s really fun to play.”
JC: “My character’s name is Alan Ferko. He is the bass drummer in the marching band. He is kind of shy. He’s not very sociable with everyone. And he usually expresses himself through music.”
AJ: “Zach is the jock- kinda like the jock of the high school. Also he’s the star quarterback of the- captain of the football team. So he is not the most popular out of the crew. Wayne is more or less the popular guy. I don’t know, it’s really weird because usually in a lot of movies, the jocks are the popular people.”
Do you relate to your onscreen character?
GV: “A lot of the times I have a character I’m… it might not be a lot like me, ‘cause that’s my job. I pretend to be like the character. But I don’t know; I think I’m a lot like Leo in real life so it’s pretty cool… A lot of the time and for most of my life I did actually stick a lot to myself. I stayed in my shell. Completely inside my comfort zone and wasn’t comfortable with anything else. I actually have a really great group of friends now that encourage me to step out a little bit and help me actually talk to people.”
KB: “I think to the extent of our ambition and our work ethic, we’re pretty much the same because you know, Kevin sees his life outside of Mika. But he’s also very different because even though he plays this role with Leo that they’re best friends which they really are, Kevin is quite a selfish person like he kind of really only cares about himself and what he can get from other people and from these friendships which is a little bit unfortunate, but I just think that’s how the landscape is in life. You know what I mean? You have people that are very much like I’m fighting for myself and you have others that are more giving than taking.”
CB: “Yes. Very much so. I don’t eat as much as he does, but Benny has a very dry sense of humor and sarcasm, and that’s kind of what I am. I’m very sarcastic. People who know me they’re like I can never tell if you’re being serious or not. And that’s the thing about Benny is that his kinda humor is serious and dry. He doesn’t know it’s funny. He’s not trying to be funny. It’s just you laugh at him because it’s just like this kid is so weird, he doesn’t even care. And, so, yes, I definitely put a little bit of myself in that role.”
JC: “Actually I’m kind of the opposite of my character. I’m more of an outgoing and like really out-there person. I love hanging out with people, having fun, making them feel better. It’s pretty cool. I’m not as much as my character but see some things I am. Like he’s nice, so he’s sentimental — things like that I am like my character.”
AJ: “I feel like it’s very close because in high school, I wasn’t the most popular — I really wasn’t popular at all. But I played a lot of sports. I played basketball; I played football in high school, so I feel like it’s very close and very on the nose. I’m very, like, charismatic and enthusiastic, but also very quiet at the same time. So I think it’s, like, describes me to a tee.”
What is your favorite scene of the movie?
GV: “There’s a few scenes in the movie that just stand out, I think. Like there was one we filmed I think the day before yesterday where Grace and I sing 13. It’s just after everything starts to go downhill, and it’s just saying like ‘hey, we’re still here.'”
KB: “I think what’s great about this film that’s different than other youth films is that these characters are just super happy and amazing and that’s all there is. These Characters are 3-dimensional, and they’re teenagers. They’re loving, and they’re hurting, and they’re experiencing pains in life, and they’re brutally honest about that. And I think one of my favorite scenes is when Leo goes, ‘you know what? I’m not OK. And I, and yeah, I want to say that I’m sad but that’s fine. I just, I’m just not OK.'”
JC: “Probably one of the best ones I enjoyed was the one with me — with Alan, and Stargirl. But you guys are going to have to watch that scene because it’s an amazing scene. It’s pretty cool. It’s awesome. That’s one of my favorite things that we did.”
AJ: “I don’t wanna give any spoilers out, so I think my favorite scene is not very specific, but it’s just working with the main cast all together. I’ll say there is a scene that we are all together, and we’re kinda just like high-fiving each other and celebrating, you know, all with each other.”
What did making this movie teach you?
GV: “I think that you shouldn’t let people tell you not to be yourself. Like there’s a point in the movie where Leo himself is too scared of what other people think of him that he tells Stargirl that she needs to fit in more. And that’s not an okay thing to do. I’m happy that she doesn’t do it for very long because that is the right thing to do. And I think that it teaches the right message.”
JC: “If anyone has a dream or any goal that they have to keep pursuing it, to never give up because once they give up then their dream and their goal is just hit rock bottom. So if any person or kid has a dream or a goal to just keep pursuing it. There’s going to be a lot of obstacles. And if you have a dream, if someone laughs at your dream that’s great because that means that dream is huge. So if you have a dream always have faith, always make sure that you keep going and just trust in God, everything’s going to be great.”
“Stargirl” comes to Disney+ on March 13th
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If you want to read it before you watch it you can buy “Stargirl” the book by Jerry Spinelli.
