Ryan Murphy has one of the most eclectic resumes in Hollywood, and for his latest movie, he decided to go more Glee than American Horror Story. The result is Netflix's The Prom, a giddy, feel-good adaptation of the hit Broadway musical in which a group of stars from the Great White Way in need of image rehab get involved in a small-town girl's fight to take her girlfriend to her high-school prom. Playing those spoiled celebrities as well as many of the other adult characters in the film is an all-star lineup that enthusiastically sing and dance their way through the film, including Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, Keegan-Michael Key, Kerry Washington and Andrew Rannells. Joining them as the teens at the center of the controversy are Tony-winner Ariana DeBose and newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman who both turn in fantastic performances that more than hold up to those of their famous co-stars.
In a press conference for the film, Murphy and his large, impressive cast discussed making The Prom, including the challenges of learning the intricate dance numbers, the Hollywood veterans' thoughts on working with DeBose and Pellman and what they hope the audience experiences watching the film.
Murphy explained that his decision to adapt The Prom was very personal. "The thing that was interesting to me is the heroine is from Indiana, where she is denied going to her prom, and halfway through the musical, I realized that was my experience. I'm from Indiana and I was not allowed to go to my prom. So it became a very personal thing for me. And I just thought it had so much joy and optimism and it was about something, and yet it was also just fun."
In order to get his cast into movie-musical shape, Murphy ensured they had plenty of time to rehearse before production began. "We took over a very large space at Paramount Pictures, and we did, we rehearsed and we trained as much as we could," Murphy shared. "And that was one of the great things because usually there's not a lot of rehearsals when you're doing film or television, but this, we had built it into the schedule, and I think, when you're making a musical, it's where the cast bonds. And they kind of did become like a Broadway troupe."
According to Streep and Kidman, that rehearsal time was very much needed."I'm the oldest person in the cast and I have the most dancing," Streep noted, "which didn't make sense to me." In fact, after seeing The Prom on Broadway, Streep believed she'd be off the hook when it came to dancing in the film. "I noticed that the leading lady didn't do a lot of dancing [in the Broadway show], so I was very encouraged [Laughs]," she said. "And all hell broke loose when I got to Los Angeles and they laid out for me what it was. So it was a lot of dancing and I got in shape. It's a lot of stamina and, man, it was hard work, but it was really, really fun."
Kidman had a similar experience. "Because I was doing Fosse, I came in thinking, ‘Oh yeah I can do this.’ It was terrifying because the Fosse dancing is so specific, but I had this amazing group of dancers that just trained me and trained me with the patience of saints. And actually it was really fun as well."
One thing Streep, Kidman and the other members of the cast agreed on was the incredible talent of their young co-stars, DeBose and Pellman. "Watching both Ariana and Jo Ellen just take a huge bite out of the screen like this," Kidman gushed. "They came on set [...], they just stepped in and owned it from the word go. I was so intimidated when I watched them sing and dance."
Of working with Pellman, Corden said, "I was blown away by Jo Ellen in pretty much every scene that we were in. I really felt like I was watching the start of a career."
For Pellman and DeBose, that admiration was very much mutual. "Truly every day on set was the best day of my life," Pellman gushed." And learning from these people who I have looked up to for, it feels like, for so long, and learning from them as artists, but also as people. Every single person in this cast is so kind and generous with their time."
"It was so heartening to have this be the first, one of, hopefully, many experiences [making movies] for me," DeBose added. "So I treasure it very much."
Of course, there was one cast member whose experience stood out from the rest: Keegan-Michael Key, plays Streep's love interest in the film, and as a result, had the honor of kissing her. Key confessed it was something he looked forward to. "When you're a kid in theater school, and you're 22 years old, if your future self came back and said, 'I just want to know that in 2020, you're going to be kissing Meryl Streep, you're going to be Meryl Streep's love interest in a movie.' You'd just be like, 'Get out of here, lying demon. You're not real!'" Key laughed. "So it was exhilarating [...] and I was waiting for it the entire shoot."
Murphy and the cast expressed their hope that those who watch The Prom experience the same joy they did while filming it. "It's such a powerful story about acceptance," Washington observed, "and the power to create community where you need it, and that when you fight for your own belonging, you create belonging for other people. It's such a beautiful, powerful story."
"We all approached this with so much love. We loved making it," Murphy said. "And I felt that when we were making it, we were excited for people to see it because [...] I think we need the message of the movie right now, the joy of it and the escapism."
Directed by Ryan Murphy and starring Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Keegan-Michael Key, Andrew Rannells, Ariana DeBose, Jo Ellen Pellman and Kerry Washington, The Prom premieres Friday, Dec. 11 on Netflix.