EXCLUSIVE: Kay Cannon Talks Making Cinderella, the Original Songs, Camila Cabello & More

Kay Cannon’s reimagined Cinderella hits Amazon Prime Video today, September 3 and we got the chance to sit down with the Cannon to discuss the new movie. Cannon not only directed the picture, but also wrote the screenplay.

In our chat, we talked the songs she chose for the movie, approving the original songs, the actors and actresses she worked with on the movie, and so much more. Check out what she had to say below.

First off, how did you pick the songs you used in the musical?

“As I was writing it, every song had to feel like dialogue on the page. It had to move the story forward and it had to fit. It was a bit of a puzzle. So, I would put placeholder songs of like, I want it to feel like this, so that I could structure every scene and I could write a full script without having all these blank spaces of songs. Even with the original songs, I was very specific. I would write these fake lyrics, where I would just be like, ‘I’ve got to choose me’ or I would give the confines of what I wanted the song to be about and feel like. This way I could have conversations with the writers of the songs for the originals and to let them know what I was looking for and what I wanted.”

Were there any songs you knew had to be in the movie?

“The only one I knew for sure was ‘Somebody To Love’. That just felt inherently organic to where the king is like, ‘You will find somebody to love you’. It’s an amazing song. There’s a reason it’s been used a lot, but I my efforts were , how can I show this in a new, different way and try to infuse comedy into it. Try to infuse some visual stuff that might be interesting to watch. Then ‘Rhythm Nation’, and ‘You Got To Be’ kind of came early. I was able to write those in. Aside from that it was just placeholders.”

How involved were you with the music selection after you finished the script?

“Once the movie was green-lit, it was like me with the music team and us at every turn, I’d be in the supermarket, I’d be in a bootcamp class. I’d be like, ‘That’s it’. I’m showing my age because a lot of the songs that were picked were songs that I loved, that I have such an affinity for. They just happened to fit super well into the movie. ‘You Got To Be’ is in there, ‘Let’s Get Loud’ and ‘Material Girl’, those were all, in a cheesy way, my jams.”

You can read the rest of our interview with Cannon under the jump.

Photo credit: Kerry Brown © 2021 Amazon Content Services LLC

What about the original songs written for the movie, did you have much say in those?

“I was very much part of the process. gave final approval. I gave notes throughout. The writers would play me it, and then I would say, ‘Okay’. Like for ‘Dream Girl’, I gave my notes and then I asked them to break it out. Because I visually wanted to go to all the women, the women in the town, the servants, Gwen and the stepsisters. I wanted to have this like, Alanis Morissette, theatrical, women are f******’ pissed off, moment. So I had asked Keith Harrison, our arranger to arrange it so that I could do that.”

Which song was the hardest to crack?

“I think the hardest one to crack was actually “Million to One” because I reprised it. I had written in the script that it would be reprised and where it would be reprised. So Camila [Cabello] and Scott [Harris], who wrote this song, were like here, listen to this. I listened to it and it was one of the first things they ever had me listen to and they nailed it.”

How did you know it was done?

“Because there was something about it I really loved. I loved the chorus and I loved the, ‘You’re going to know my name’ because Cinderella is not her name. And that was my point. Everybody was going to know that her name was Ella and it’s Ella designs. I was very lucky. I’m surrounded by really talented people who made things great.”

Was there anything that you originally wrote in the script that when you started the filming process worked better than you expected?

“Well, I remember asking Keith Harrison, we worked hand in hand together on the arrangements. I was like, ‘Does ‘Rhythm Nation’ and ‘You Got to Be’ go together? And he was like, ‘Any song can be mashed up Kay.’ And that was the same thing with ‘What a Man’ and ‘Seven Nation Army’. I was like, ‘Can those two go together?’ And he’s just like, again, ‘Any song can go together’.”

Did anything not work?

“I had a song I loved so much, and I want to use it in a different project now. It’s kind of great that I didn’t use it, but I had this acapella song, ‘Light of the Clear Blue Morning”, it’s just this beautiful song. And I wanted to do that at the top of act three, after the ball where, it’s been a long hard night, and all the stepsisters, the stepmother, and everybody else were all singing it in this beautiful acapella.”

Why didn’t it make the cut?

“Both Spring Aspers at Sony, who’s my Sony Music Executive and James Cordon were like, this is the top of act three, you can’t have a five minutes acapella, slow song. So I cut it because I had to cut pages. I had to fit a budget and how many days we had to shoot. So that was one of the first things to go.”

Let’s talk the cast, what was it like landing those actors and actresses for your movie?

“I didn’t really feel that shocked when we got everybody that we got. I think when I first met Pierce [Brosnan], I was nervous because, I know he’s James Bond, but for me it was all about him being Remington Steele. And so I was nervous. I get nervous and intimidated when I really have such admiration for somebody who especially has done a lot over the years.”

How did it feel working with these actors and actresses?

“Everybody knew what I was doing and wanted to do that and wanted to be there. Really the cast is being seen in a different way. You know, I don’t know if people really knew how great of a singer Minnie [Driver] was. Then to see Idina [Menzel’ be so vulnerable of course, I mean, she’s Broadway royalty. We’ve seen her sing these big ballads, but there was something about ‘Dream Girl’ being a bit edgier that felt different for her.”

Were there any casting shockers?

“I guess the biggest shock is that Camila [Cabello’ said yes. I’m so happy that she took that leap of faith. She took that risk, she took that swing. I have a lot of love for the cast. I know every director says that, but I really, truly, truly love them.”

To wrap up, is there another musical story that you would love to bring to life?

“I don’t know in the film space. I would love to do Pitch Perfect on Broadway someday. But I’m not sure where, and I have some things that I am wanting to do that I’m going to write that have music within them, but they’re not musicals.”