In ‘Girl You Know It’s True’, successful director Simon Verhoeven (‘Nightlife’) tells the incredible but true story of pop sensation Milli Vanilli and her producer Frank Farian (Matthias Schweighöfer). One of the biggest challenges was certainly finding two suitable leads – because although they didn’t have to be able to sing, they had to dance damn well and be as similar to the originals as possible. The roles as Rob and Fab eventually went to Tijan Njie, known to German TV audiences for “Alles was counts” and “Let’s Dance”, as well as to Elan Ben Ali, who had just completed acting school in France at the time of the film . to pour.
We met the two shooting stars in a hotel in Berlin for a detailed interview:
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Elan Ben Ali: I would say Tijan and I probably increased the number of views by two million. So really very often. But the song is still fresh today and we love the music, so luckily it never felt like an obligation.
Tijan Njie: In any case, Milli Vanilli is the clear number one in my Spotify annual lists. I worked as a DJ in my hometown many years ago – and every time I played Milli Vanilli, people went crazy, and that’s still the case.
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Tijan Njie: I knew the songs and of course the big scandal. But I didn’t know where exactly the boys came from or what their roots were, and that’s exactly why I was so fascinated.
Elan Ben Ali: When I first watched the music video for “Girl You Know It’s True,” the song and Rob and Fab’s looks were immediately familiar to me. But other than that, we didn’t know anything about Milli Vanilli before we started working on the film.
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Tijan Njie: It was a long journey for us. If I tell you all this now, we’ll probably still be here tomorrow morning. In the first round, it wasn’t even mentioned what kind of movie it actually was. I had to submit an introduction video, a dance video and a singing video – and even though I didn’t know it was about Milli Vanilli, I said in the introduction that I’m not the best singer, but I am very good. I can pretend to be a good singer. That was a funny coincidence. The auditions lasted almost half a year – and in the end Simon Verhoeven apparently felt that we were good enough at lip syncing. (laughs)
Elan Ben Ali: I had just finished drama school when I was asked for the casting. However, it meant that I had to film in English – and my English was very poor at the time. But apparently the French accent was actually wanted – and so I was invited to the next round. The third casting then took place in Germany – with two candidates for Fab and three candidates for Rob. They just wanted to see what the chemistry was like between us. In any case, I was still very nervous about my statement – and then Tijan happened to be the first person I met on the terrace. We chatted and bonded – and then, funnily enough, we got to act out the exact scene where Rob and Fab first met backstage on a television show.
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Tijan Njie: Whenever we performed the song “Blame It On The Rain,” it was extremely difficult for me not to just sing along – because singing personally brought me even closer to Rob. That’s why it happened again and again that I suddenly heard myself singing loudly. But of course my job was to convince the audience that I was only moving my lips – and that is actually anything but easy.
Elan Ben Ali: I can confirm that he absolutely loves this song.
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Tijan Njie: There were so many! At least a few hundred. For us it really felt like we were giving a real concert. We immediately forgot about the cameras – instead we performed for the Milli Vanilli fans and completely lost ourselves in the audience.
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Tijan Njie: That was quite difficult, especially in the beginning. I don’t wear glasses and have never used such lenses. That’s why my eyes first had to get used to the fact that something was suddenly there. But at some point it was just the logical final step for me to finally turn into Rob – after all, it’s almost like I’m looking through his eyes. (laughs)
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Elan Ben Ali: My first reaction was, “Are you sure you can dance with it?” But at a certain point you forgot all about that – and just felt like a real superstar on stage, especially because the eighties were exactly mine when it came to fashion and music. be time.
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Elan Ben Ali: That was the moment I really understood what the audience must have meant to Rob and Fab. It felt more like a concert than a film shoot. When someone shouted ‘cut’ we immediately wanted to continue performing – that’s how powerful it was. When I was younger I wanted to be a rapper, but luckily I decided against it – and I still enjoy being on stage and seeing people cheering me on.
Tijan Njie: There was a moment when we had been dancing for more than six or seven hours, when Simon Verhoeven asked us if we could really last one more take. But the crowd just gave us so much energy. Every time we came on stage they immediately started screaming and cheering, there was so much love in the room.
It’s a lot of fun, but it also has a tragic side
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Elan Ben Ali: I’d say there are quite a few. For example, this very famous meme that Rob and Fab now have is exciting: “Milli Vanilli watches people become famous by lip-syncing on TikTok.” And there is some truth in that: everyone wants to be famous, even if they are. that’s not possible – only today it’s completely normal on social media and accepted by everyone, while at the time it caused a major scandal.
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Tijan Njie: We’re bringing back a time that was loud, shrill, and absolutely limitless. You can enjoy it wonderfully. At the same time, we tell you about the deep friendship between Rob and Fab – and even though it ends tragically, there are no clear answers about how exactly to judge everything. Instead, everyone can really develop their own view of things, and that’s just really exciting.
“Girl You Know It’s True” is currently showing in German cinemas.
Author: Christopher Petersen
Source : Film Starts
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
