JoJo Siwa on the LGBTQ+ Representation in New Movie 'The J Team' | THR Interview - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

JoJo Siwa spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about her new Nickelodeon musical movie, 'The J Team,' streaming exclusively on Paramount+.

Transcript

00:00I couldn't count to how many people have come to me and said like you helped me or thank you or

00:06or you would have if I would have had you when I was a kid. Jojo Siwa stars in her own new

00:11Nickelodeon musical movie The J Team exclusively on Paramount+. We've all been told that we don't

00:16fit in before. What if we celebrated everyone being unique? You guys ready for this? In addition

00:25to starring in this movie you're also an executive producer. How much did you get to be involved in

00:29the filmmaking process? I mean I was involved with this film since the beginning. We pitched the

00:36idea to Nickelodeon to create this movie about three years ago and so now that it's finally here

00:42it's like I've been waiting for this one. Art imitates life in the new film as Jojo plays a dancer

00:47criticized by her dance teacher for marching to the beat of her own drum. Jojo tells The Hollywood

00:52Reporter the movie is comparable to her life when she was young and starring on the reality show

00:56dance moms. It's crazy because it's like I'm being Jojo but in a different way.

01:02No high tops, no ponytails. I can do her things and absolutely no balls.

01:10Jojo revealed what advice she would give to her younger self when she was criticized for what

01:13made her unique just like her character in her new movie. You know I would just say keep doing

01:18what you're doing because there was a day when I, Abby actually asked me, she said you better not

01:24wear a bow in your hair tomorrow and I went home and my mom said what are you gonna do with your hair

01:29and I said what do you mean? She said well Abby said you can't wear a bow tomorrow. I said oh I was

01:33gonna wear two bows. I think that I wouldn't go back and I wouldn't change anything. I would keep

01:39everything exactly how it is. That's no surprise. Jojo's been riding high since signing an overall talent

01:44deal with Nickelodeon in 2017 which has seen her perform on tour as well as release music,

01:50merchandise, and TV and film projects like this one. It was recently announced Jojo will appear

01:54on the next season of Dancing with the Stars where she'll make history as the first contestant to

01:58compete with a same-sex dance partner. After Jojo came out and introduced her followers to her

02:03girlfriend earlier this year, she opened up about what the response was like for her.

02:07The response was incredible. The world gave me so much love, also so much criticism of course,

02:13but it's nothing that was going to affect me because it made me so happy and so it nothing

02:19was gonna make me not happy anymore because I was just almost too happy. I couldn't count

02:26to how many people have come to me and said like you helped me or thank you or or you would have if I

02:33would have had you when I was a kid. Her new film is also breaking ground in terms of LGBTQ plus

02:37representation. One of the characters Desi is played by trans actor Marlo Percival.

02:42In this movie, there's a moment of LGBTQ plus representation. Why was it important to you to

02:48include that moment in this movie? Desi was going to be a straight man who I was kind of falling for.

02:58But me playing me in the movie, that makes no sense because I'm not playing a character and I am

03:05being myself. So a falling for somebody who's not my girlfriend doesn't make sense at all. And so I

03:13think that once we came up with the idea of how to twist that character, it made so much more sense.

03:19JoJo's fan base has expanded over the past year and now includes Siwa-naders of all ages. As she looks

03:24toward the future, the 18-year-old revealed what's next for her.

03:27You know, I think for me, I want to keep going the way that I'm going. And I want to just keep

03:35getting bigger and keep doing what I love. I love where I'm at right now. I love performing. I love

03:39making movies. I love going on tour, making music like that's where my heart is. And so I think that

03:46my biggest ultimate goal is to one day perform at the Super Bowl. But I know there's a lot that has to

03:52come before that. But it's good to have a crazy dream, right? The J Team is now streaming on

03:57Paramount+. For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.

JoJo Siwa on the LGBTQ+ Representation in New Movie 'The J Team' | THR Interview

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended