Of course, things have already been a little weird up to that point, with the film following 18-year-old Elliott (Maisy Stella) as she deals with the after-effects of a mushroom trip just days before she’s set to leave for college. She’s (possibly?) hallucinated conversations with her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza), and she’s started to have feelings for a mysterious boy, even though she’s gay. Determined to get to the bottom of everything, Elliott decides to trip for a second time, only to end up in a — spoiler alert — Justin Bieber-inspired music video.
In theaters now and streaming on Prime Video later this fall, My Old Ass is a nostalgia-tinged, feel-good film that celebrates the at-once cautious and carefree feelings of growing up. The musical moment centers on a very faithful recreation of Bieber’s oft-memed “One Less Lonely Girl” performances from his My World 2.0 era , where the he got up close and personal with a lucky fan pulled onstage each night. The My Old Ass psychedelic sequence features an entire choreographed routine, with Stella masquerading as the pop star, complete with iconic purple and white outfit, and bouquet of flowers for a crying fan.
The over-the-top montage (sadly sans Bieber cameo) has become one of the most talked-about scenes in the film, leaving audiences buzzing (and humming the tune) long after they’ve left the theater. While the singer has yet to comment on the scene, My Old Ass director Megan Park and music coordinator Tyler Hilton say Bieber personally approved the performance.
Rolling Stone caught up with Park and Hilton to talk about the inspiration for the Bieber tribute, how they got his song approved, and why “everybody loses their minds” when that surprise scene pops up in the film.
My Old Ass is more of a comedy or drama than a musical. What was the inspiration behind having a musical moment in the film? Megan Park: I feel like there was always a musical montage in the coming-of-age movies from my childhood, like 13 Going on 30 , and I wanted to have that moment of levity in this film, too. Obviously the first [mushroom] trip that Elliott has is really heady and dark, so I thought it would be funny if her intention was to have that same experience again, only for it to turn into something totally different. Even if it wasn’t Maisy, who’s a great singer, I was going to find a way to make it work.
When did the idea of doing a Justin Bieber tribute come up? Park: Originally I had written something very millennial, like basing the scene on an old Disney movie from our childhood. And then very quickly I realized, “Oh, we’re not going to get this cleared because they’re doing drugs [in the scene] and it’s Disney.” At that point, I went to Maisy and I was like, “What’s the formative concert from your youth?” And she immediately was like, “Oh, Justin Bieber. That’s like my first concert.” And that’s how it became this whole thing.
You chose a very specific Bieber song and performance for the scene. Park: Maisy showed me some of the Never Say Never doc footage , and told me how everyone wanted to be the “One Less Lonely Girl” because he’d pull someone onstage each night. I’d been a huge Justin fan, but I didn’t know the extent of the girls that would dress up during the concert to be chosen as the “One Less Lonely Girl” and how sad they’d be if they didn’t get picked. So I thought it was so fucking funny, and then I was like, “Well, you obviously have to be Bieber and we’ll gender-swap it.” And then it all just started to come together.
What was the process like, in terms of getting the song approved? Park: The funny thing is, we couldn’t get full approval for the number until it was fully edited and shot. Justin’s team read the script, and they were like, “Yeah, this is cool. We think we’re gonna approve this,” because obviously it was not making fun of him. But then we had to film the whole thing and edit it and send it to his team to get final permission, which was scary, because I was like, “Fuck, if this doesn’t work, there’s going to be a huge hole in the movie.” But I feel like he hopefully got it and liked it. I mean, he approved it.
You didn’t use Justin’s version of the song, but rather had Maisy do her own version. Why? Tyler Hilton: We copied it pretty much exactly, because we couldn’t get the rights to the original [song]. I don’t think we even changed the arrangement, really. Maisy re-sang it and recorded it in Muskoka, [Canada], where the movie was filmed, and then did some of the vocals in Nashville. And I think she ended up finishing some stuff that we still needed from her in L.A.
It probably helped that Maisy is an accomplished singer. Hilton: I thought she sounded so good. But it’s funny, because Maisy has this soulful voice, and she recorded a really dope cover of the song, but we had to re-record it, because it didn’t make sense for her to sing it all sultry while she’s doing the dance. So we had to recut a lot of her vocals and keep being like, “Pretend you’re onstage in front of thousands of people and you’re dancing while singing.”
Speaking of the dancing, did it take a long time to choreograph the scene? Park: The choreography actually happened pretty fast. Kyle Hanagami choreographed it. He sent a video with three of his dancers, and [the cast] just learned it off of that. They had, like, one rehearsal or something, which is crazy, but it helps that the other two scene partners were [co-stars] Maddie Ziegler and Kerrice Brooks, both of whom are professional dancers.
Was there a backup song in case Justin’s team didn’t approve his track for the film? Hilton: Megan and I both had childhoods full of dancing and lip-syncing to Spice Girls. I loved the Spice Girls. Like, I had all their records. I even went to see the Spice World movie when I was in middle school.
Park: I asked Margot [Robbie, the film’s producer] about it and she was saying how Spice World was like her favorite movie. And then she worked with the older dude from that movie [Richard E. Grant] on Saltburn and she was so starstruck that she said to him, “Oh, I loved you in Spice World .”
What Spice Girls song would you have used? Both: Probably “Stop.”
Park: Maisy and the girls didn’t really know the Spice Girls’ songs though. When they were talking about most iconic childhood songs, theirs was literally from Camp Rock 2 . It’s like a scene with Demi Lovato, where they’re singing about “fire and rain” or something. When I ask anyone from that generation, they all say Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2 were so formative to them.
Megan, what has the response been to the musical number? Park: It’s crazy being in the theater with people, like, under 25 when that scene comes on, because everybody loses their minds. I think everyone relates to Bieber in a different way, whether they found him late, or grew up as a fan. You don’t have to explain that scene. Everyone gets it.
Favorite Bieber song? Park: Mine has forever been and always will be “Sorry.” That’s probably top 10 pop songs of all time.
Hilton: I do love “Baby.” I missed the Bieber phase when it first came around so I discovered a lot of his stuff while making this movie. Now, I’m like, “I get it. He’s so cool and so good .”
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