By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) --Choreographer Mandy Moore was lying under a car on the hot pavement while more than 100 dancers above her twirled through gridlocked LA freeway traffic during the opening number of "La La Land ."
The sequence was months in the making – the most complicated ever undertaken by Moore, who's been creating routines for TV's "Dancing With the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance" for years.
"I'm going to call it hashtag panic attack," the Emmy-nominated choreographer said of the freeway routine, which required dozens of cars, several stuntmen, 30 professional dancers and more than 100 extras to have perfect timing during long takes.
She had to be close enough to call out cues but couldn't be seen on camera, so she hid under a car, watching on a wireless monitor. She could feel the magic from there when they got the shot.
"I still get goose bumps when I think about it," she said.
Creating that show-stopping (or starting) number and the celestial routines Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone perform in "La La Land" wasn't Moore's only role in the dreamy musical. She also spent months personally teaching the stars to dance.
A tribute to Old Hollywood and modern Los Angeles, the film is a love story set to original music, with Stone and Gosling dancing together throughout.
Each started with individual lessons at a small studio in Burbank, California – not far from the restaurant where their characters, Mia and Sebastian, first meet onscreen. Moore began with the same basics she would for any new student: connecting movement to music and repeating classic jazz, tap and waltz patterns. Along the way, she worked to build "a general love of dance" in the actors.
"If these people don't love to dance, they're going to hate me by the end of this… and I know that can't be part of this equation," she said. "They have to love to dance."
Stone picked up the footwork first, Moore said, then focused on style and delivery. Gosling was the opposite.
"With Ryan, he was like, 'I don't know what step you're doing, but if you give me the style…'" she said.
"Her job is to kind of see the diamond in the rough," Gosling said, calling his teacher "a wonderful person and choreographer."
"She's very confident she can get it out of you if you'll stick with her."
Once they got the basics down, Moore put the stars together and taught them Mia and Sebastian's moves, which were based in part on preferences the actors showed during their private lessons. For example, a foot-scrape move that Gosling liked became one of Sebastian's signature steps.
Planning and executing large-scale performances – like the freeway routine – and creating intimate dances that suit real strengths and imaginary characters tapped all aspects of Moore's talents. The opening scene was "big picture, then work on the details," she said, "where Ryan and Emma was very detail (first), then get the big picture."
Moore's story isn't unlike Mia's. Musicals both classic and contemporary – movies like "La La Land" – are what inspired the dancer to leave her small Colorado hometown for Los Angeles after high school.
"It's super cliche," Moore said. "I was 18. I had 500 bucks and my suitcase."
She performed with contemporary dance companies and in film and TV productions before a series of events brought her to "La La Land." She worked with "Dancing With the Stars" judge Carrie Ann Inaba, who introduced her to "So You Think You Can Dance" creator Nigel Lythgoe. Moore's work on that show earned her two Emmy nominations and the attention of a "Silver Linings Playbook" producer, who hired her to create the dance Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence perform in that film.
For "La La Land" writer-director Damien Chazelle, the most important thing about the choreography was that it be "as much about character as about bodies moving."
"What I told Mandy is that in this movie, dancing, singing and acting are all just one thing – there is no separation between them," Chazelle said. "Ultimately the dancing really emanated from how Ryan and Emma relate to one another."
Moore would love it if the film inspires viewers to discover their inner Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers – "ballroom dance is very accessible to people who aren't dancers," she says – but she really just hopes people feel the kind of joy watching it that she did working on it.
"I feel like 'La La Land' is the Super Bowl of your career," she said. "For this to happen for dance, for it to happen for me, and choreography, I mean, this is huge, huge, huge. I might need to hang up these shoes after this."
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More