4 Things You Should Know About La La Land!

Posted 2016/12/22 5321 0

If you are a movie lover and interested in "academic" movies beside popular blockbusters, you definitely know that the American romantic musical comedy-drama film “La La Land” directed by Damien Chazelle starring Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, and J.K. Simmons is truly outstanding and worth your watching this year!

The movie tells the story of Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone) who are drawn together by their common desire to do what they love. But as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.

And here are 4 things about the movie you should know!


1. Upside Down Casting


Emma Watson was originally intended to star as Mia but had to turn down the role due to scheduling conflicts with the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. Funnily enough, Ryan Gosling was set to play the role of The Beast himself, but left the project to star in #LaLaLand instead.

Miles Teller was initially going to reunite with Damien Chazelle after the two worked together on Whiplash, but long contract negotiations and a prior commitment to The Divergent Series: Allegiant caused the actor to leave the film. There are also rumours flying around that suggest Teller's exit may have also been due to his $4 million dollar contract demands.


2. Ryan Gosling Plays Piano, No Finger Doubles


Gosling spent four months learning how to play the piano every day to get to a level that would make his jazz musician character Sebastian convincing.

The film was shot with many long takes, so if you think there was room for CG manipulation or a pianist look-alike, think again.

Even Legend did a double take.

"I was like, 'Have you played before?'" Legend joked. "Cuz you can't be this good right away."


3. Reunited And It Feels So Good

La La Land marks Emma Stone's and Ryan Gosling's third movie together, and cements their place as my all-time favorite movie couple. Their on-screen romance goes back as far as 2011 where in Crazy Stupid Love, Emma Stone's character tamed Ryan Gosling's character and made him settle down, which no other girl could. Their chemistry in this film was just electric! Their second film together was Gangster Squad, where the pair enthralled each other in 1949 Los Angeles. That brings us to 2016, where the pair will form another romance and delve into their undeniable chemistry once again in La La Land.


4. Five Years In The Making


Damien Chazelle came up with the idea for La La Land while studying at Harvard University with his classmate and composer on this film, Justin Hurwitz, completing the screenplay back in 2010. Using his own experiences as a filmmaker who struggled to find his way inspired Chazelle to write both Whiplash and La La Land, the latter focusing on his journey from the East Coast to Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, studios weren't willing to produce a musical film didn't feature a familiar hit song, let alone that revolved around jazz. When a studio did eventually take interest in the film, they demanded that numerous things should be changed in the script, including the opening and closing scenes. There was even talk of altering Sebastian's style, changing him from a jazz artist into a rock musician! Fortunately, Chazelle was unwilling to make those changes and decided to drop the project and move on.

Chazelle's next project was Whiplash in 2014 and when that film raked in the big bucks, earning multiple nominations and won various awards; Summit Entertainment finally agreed to make La La Land.