Early in Piece by Piece, director Morgan Neville's unconventional documentary about one of popular music's most influential figures, Pharrell Williams says the best way to express himself is through Lego bricks.
“I had Lego sets when I was a kid, and it was a really amazing platform for me to let my imagination flourish and learn things about myself, as most kids do and so many people — millions and millions of people on this planet,” Williams said. diverse At the Toronto Film Festival, where Piece by Piece had its international premiere.
While most documentaries rely on footage shot by the director, working with the toy company gave Williams and his partners “a cinematic freedom that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.” Making the animated Lego documentary was “an unprecedented exercise,” he said.
Tracy Bell
The film, which will be released Oct. 11 via Focus Features and Universal Pictures, features interviews with many of Williams’ closest collaborators over the years. Williams has assembled an A-list musical star cast for “Piece by Piece,” including Jay-Z, Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Pusha T and Timbaland. But he didn’t tell them they would be appearing in the film as Lego.
“We were intentional about not telling anyone that this was going to be the final product. We wanted people to just answer questions and give their full, unedited reactions to the interview opportunity,” Williams said. “Because if we had said, ‘Well, this is going to be in Lego,’ people would have twisted what they were saying… We didn’t want them to be influenced by what we wanted. We wanted the purest part. And I feel like part of the magic of what makes this movie so popular is because it’s so raw and not scripted.”
Williams added that he didn't want the film's visual style, its PG rating and its appeal to all audiences to influence the tone of the interviews.
“It started out as, ‘Oh, we’re making this for kids.’ But it’s like, ‘No, we’re not making this. We’re making this for people,’” Williams said. “And while I’m a black man from a marginalized community, we wanted this story to be universal, and that’s why we told it through Star Lego.”
Once the documentary participants found out they would be transformed into moving Lego pieces, “everyone was pleasantly surprised and incredibly supportive,” Williams said.
“This movie was a project that was a collection of yeses. When you come from where I come from and you look like me, you hear a lot of noes,” Williams said. “But Morgan Neville said yes. Lego said yes. Fox said yes. Universal said yes. The universe itself said yes. When people ask me about this project, I say, ‘Man, we’re working on the impossible. This is almost impossible.’”
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