‘It was really cool’
Music/movie star can’t stop the feelings watching concert doc
TORONTO Watching himself on the big screen in Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme’s new concert doc on Tuesday night, Justin Timberlake was first struck by — what else? — the sound.
“I leaned over to Jonathan and I was like, ‘Can we turn it up? Can we turn it UP? I shouldn’t be able to whisper to you right now and you hear me,’ ” the nine-time Grammy Award winner said with a laugh the day after Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids made its world première at the Toronto International Film Festival.
“I think they did turn it up just a little bit, like three songs in, and I’m glad they did. Because mixing it on a mixing stage, that was such a fun part for me, working with our amazing sound mixer … just being only two or three guys and gals in this huge mixing stage and listening to it.” Then the surreal part kicked in. “Hearing it … with other people around and not just watching the reaction, but hearing their reaction and also capturing all the fans that were in the arena that night, it was definitely like a ‘Do do do do,’” he added, mimicking The Twilight Zone theme. “It was really cool.” Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids sees the music/movie star,
as well as his bandmates and backup dancers, preparing for and performing in Las Vegas at the end of their 20/20 Experience tour.
Decked out in a three-piece suit, Timberlake oozes charisma as he delivers his hits — from SexyBack to Rock Your Body and Suit & Tie — while gliding across the stage with Michael Jackson-esque skill. At the end, he appears to well up. “I definitely teared up,” he said. “It was just a realization of two years of hard work and shared experience with amazing people.
“It’s weird because something like that feels like an outpouring of emotion, but I was receiving so much at that time that there’s really nothing else your body can do except like, ‘Guh,’ ” Timberlake added, fake crying.
Demme — the Oscar-winning director behind The Silence of the Lambs and Stop Making Sense — told the TIFF crowd it was one of the greatest experiences of his life.
Meanwhile, Timberlake said he was excited and gushed over Demme, jesting: “I’m in love with you.”
He also admitted he was nervous, even though he’s already appeared on the big screen in films including Inside Llewyn Davis and The Social Network.
“It was a lot of things,” Timberlake said in an interview. “I was anxious, I was exhilarated, I was anxious again — not dissimilar to how I probably feel right before I got onstage.
“But once it got started and you could feel the room — you know … you look around the room and people are viewing it … and you see this pulse. It felt more visceral, for sure.”
It was just a realization of two years of hard work and shared experience with amazing people.