Zac Efron And Max Joseph On The Music and Culture Behind “We Are Your Friends”
As the EDM culture focused Working Title/Warner Bros Pictures film We Are Your Friends preps for release on August 28th, it’s stars, Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkowski, and director, MTV’s Catfish star Max Joseph, have been making the press rounds, giving the blogosphere plenty to talk about in promo. A great example of this that has gone relatively viral, is the Cosmopolitan UK clip that features Efron drawing a blank on his old Disney Channel High School Musical hit song “Break Free” with Co-star Vanessa Hudgens. If that seems odds, it’s at least worth noting that the trio also thought that One Direction’s “Steal My Girl” was an old 80s hit. Check it out below.
“Zac Efron doesn’t recognise Breaking Free from High School Musical. Sad times.”
Cosmopolitan UK
Despite his pop music slip up, Max saw to it that Zac was properly cultured to play the roll of EDM DJ Cole Carter. Efron told Rolling Stone that Joseph schooled him in everything from dub step to deep house.
“Max really opened my eyes to electronic music,” he told Rolling Stone. “He started a playlist that I followed on Spotify. I had never heard any of the music on it. And [co-star] Wes Bentley was also a DJ growing up and would actually spin at clubs on vinyl. Learning about the world was fascinating.”
Although the music matches much of today’s youth party culture, Joseph also went on to explain that the core story of the lead character and his friendships came out of his real life.
“When I was 19, I did an internship in Los Angeles and lived with a friend of mine in the Valley,” first-time feature director and Catfish star Max Joseph tells Rolling Stone of the inspiration behind the film’s core friend group. “He and his friends were a lot like these guys. They were promoting in clubs, hustling and hitting on every girl they saw. They’d recruit them to come to the parties, and it was very different from my upbringing. It shocked me.”
He’s clearly figured out how to make pop culture “shock” work for him and his movie. He borrowed from a different element of shock from the music world when casting Emily Ratajkowski as the film’s female lead. Some of you may already know her from Instagram, but if you need a slight reminder, turn on Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” video and look closely. Chances are, you’ll be reminded in the coolest way possible.
Related Media:
Robin Thicke F/Pharrell Williams and T.I.
“Blurred Lines” (unrated version featuring nudity)
Star Trak/Interscope Records
Want to see more of her, Zac, and the rest of the gang? Head to the theaters this Friday. Enjoy.
