‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ leans into authenticity with a filmmaker willing to criticize himself

The arrival of the film ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ announces not just one but two noteworthy new talents.

Writer, director, producer and actor Cooper Raiff at age 25 has already made two award-winning feature films. His first, ‘S— house,’ won the grand jury award at the 2020 South by Southwest Film Festival even as its premiere was canceled by the onset of the pandemic. ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ won the audience award at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, while Raiff again saw the in-person premiere curtailed due to a surge in COVID-19 cases.

It wasn’t until ‘Cha Cha’ played at the 2022 South by Southwest festival that Raiff finally got to see one of his films with a public audience.

‘I just realized that this is the reason why I wanted to make movies and what it’s really all about,’ Raiff said of finally sharing one of his films with a proper audience.

‘After South By, I had a whole week where I was like, ‘Slow down.’ I’m not just making things. I’m making and showing things and communicating things, and that takes other people,’ said Raiff. ‘I like the idea of just showing it to my girlfriend or my mom, but there’s kind of nothing more freeing than seeing it with so many different kinds of people who are strangers, and I realize it’s what it’s all about.’

Though the film stars Raiff alongside Dakota Johnson, also a producer via her TeaTime Pictures banner, and features supporting turns from Leslie Mann and Brad Garrett, it is young Vanessa Burghardt who steals nearly every scene she is in with her sly, charismatic presence.

In the film, Raiff plays Andrew, a new college graduate who isn’t sure what to do with his life. He is back living with his mother (Mann) and her new husband (Garrett) and happens into a job as a party starter for local bat and bar mitzvahs. Which is how he meets Domino (Johnson), whose daughter, Lola (Burghardt), has autism and struggles to fit in with other kids. Andrew finds himself increasingly entangled in Domino and Lola’s lives as he falls for Domino.

Burghardt, now 18, makes her screen debut with the role. Like the character of Lola, Burghardt also has autism. Though ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ is her first role in a movie, she has been auditioning for parts for a number of years.

She recalled what initially drew her to acting.

‘When I was younger, I didn’t do a lot of socializing and I didn’t really relate to any kids,’ said Burghardt. ‘So I watched a lot of movies, and then as I got older it kind of became the way I learned social cues and sort of how I understood myself and other people. And then I think when I was 9 or 10, I saw the gag reel for ‘The Avengers,’ and they all looked like they liked each other and they were a part of something. I’d never been a part of something, and I wanted to be a part of something.’

Raiff was immediately stuck by Burghardt’s audition tape. He could tell she was reading the scene with her mother off-camera, and the connection he felt between them was exactly the kind he was trying to capture in the characters of Lola and Domino.

‘That’s why I wanted to make this movie, the whole engine for the movie is that thing. One of the best things that life has to offer is a bond like that,’ he said. ‘I felt it so immediately when

I watched her audition tape, and she’s also really majorly talented. She did the scene perfectly, and it got me excited about all the possibilities. She had so much more going on than what was on the page.’

Through a series of Zoom conversations, ostensibly rehearsals, Raiff began to tailor the role of Lola to Burghardt, aging the character up just a bit and making her more reflective of Burghardt’s experiences and personality. During the development process, Raiff and the production also consulted with RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization that advocates for people with disabilities.

‘I don’t think we ever said, ‘So, Vanessa, tell me about all the times you’ve been bullied before. I’m taking notes,’’ Raiff said. ‘But I think I did have instincts that helped shape the character after she was signed on to do it.’