Whichever way you spin it, Casablanca Records was a powerhouse. One of the most successful independent record companies of all time, it nurtured some of the most iconic music artists in history – Donna Summer, Parliament, Gladys Knight, The Isley Brothers, The Village People, Bill Withers and yes… even KISS. The brainchild of the idealistic yet brilliant founder/music producer, Neil Bogart, Casablanca became one of the most influential studios by the time the indie label took off in the 1970s.
That’s what makes Turn gold all the more intriguing. The film pays homage to the late Neil Bogart – his son, Timothy Scott Bogart, writes, directs and produces the film – but it’s also a parade of talent as some of today’s hottest music stars take on the icons that inspired them in a film about the music industry.
The stars of spinning gold
Howling Wolf
Singer Taylor Parx is one of those artists. She had the immense task of becoming music legend Donna Summer inside Turn gold. Summer hits (Naughty girls, I love you, baby, hot stuff, I feel love, last dance) defined a generation and influenced music well beyond the 1970s. “It was absolutely daunting to step into the shoes of someone the world loved, and some people have grown up,” Parx admitted with a chuckle.
Meanwhile Jeremy Jordan (Supergirl, Disney’s Newsies: The Broadway Musical!) plays the pivotal role of Neil Bogart in the movie, while Jay Pharoah (Saturday Night Live, Bad Hair) plays Cecil Holmes, co-founder of Casablanca. It’s not easy to portray a historical figure on screen, but unlike Parx, Pharoah wasn’t too concerned with playing Holmes.
“It didn’t scare me at all,” Pharoah said. “We have certain characteristics. He was a Christian and I follow those beliefs. This [cross] is not just something I put around my neck. And Cecil didn’t give in to coke and all that stuff. He would be the J [marijuana] sometimes, but that’s all he did. That’s how I am in my normal life. I hit the J, but I don’t do anything else. And I started out in theater and drama, so playing a dramatic role like this wasn’t too hard for me, because I’m used to jumping back and forth between comedy and drama. Some of the best comedians can do both.”
Turn gold will be in cinemas from March 31. Parx and Pharoah tell more about the film with MovieWeb.
Tayla Parx on playing Donna Summer
“For me, this movie is really about the journey of becoming Donna Summer,” Parx beamed, “In the movie, we meet the singer before she’s ‘Donna,’ which was really interesting to me. You can see how her vocals were delivered and finally transformed.
Understood. It’s fun to see Parx take on Summers here, especially in a pivotal scene where Ms. Summers records her career-defining hit, “Love to Love You Baby.” There are other highlights in the film, of course, and audiences will appreciate seeing some of today’s favorite music artists — from Wiz Khalifa to Pink Sweat$ — take on legendary singers.
Parx said she delved into studying the differences between Donna the wannabe star and Donna the icon. “Before this movie, there was very little to see How Donna became Donna – that journey. This movie left some room to think about her as a singer/songwriter. Like… how do you discover who you are as an artist? And if you knew that what you discover would one day become iconic, how do you go about it?”
A touch of that curiosity is dispersed throughout the film, which comes down as an amalgam of an ambitious musical and a bona fide tribute film.
“My greatest hope is that I’ve done justice to the character,” Parx continued. “Donna has a daughter who is still alive. So I hope people ‘get it’ and see that this is as good a representation as possible. And I also hope people walk away from the experience and realize how many people it takes to make these superstars. In the movie we see so many people who are forgotten; those people may not be the most talked about. But it is really important that we notice them.”
Jay Pharoah on becoming Cecil Holmes
Howling Wolf
In addition to Jordan, Pharoah and Parx, an all-star cast plays that gives everything Turn gold. There’s Michelle Monaghan (Mission: impossible, go baby go), Tony Award winner Dan Fogler (The Walking Dead, the Goldbergs), and Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter, the patriot) in a corner. Then there’s Lyndsy Fonseca (Kick-Ass, Hot Tub Time Machine), Chris Red (Saturday Night Live), Casey loves (Almost famous on Broadway), and comedian/actor Sebastian Maniscalco (The Irishman) in another.
Pharoah is candid about what he first thought when he read the script. “I thought it was insane – all the differences that used to be. I was fascinated by the story of all artists in Casablanca. I had no idea of all that connection [with the label]. I only knew the music. I knew the music of Bill Withers and of course Donna Summer and the others, but the band with KISS or The Village People and others with Casablanca? I was totally baffled by that.”
The SNL alum went on to say that he loved KISS as a young child, but didn’t realize then that audiences didn’t initially warm to KISS. To his credit, Turn gold fills in some of that backstory and the power of perseverance. “It really added to the story of this film,” Pharoah added. “It’s like… you’re betting on yourself and believing in yourself. Essentially, you’re faking it until you make it.
It should be noted that Bogart’s gleeful optimism and never-ending spirit – the indie label was millions of dollars in debt for some time before things picked up – dampened the spirits of the artists who would go on to become superstars.
“You have to believe in yourself and stay persistent, because if you give up at 11:59, your breakthrough could have been at 12, so be persistent — come what may,” Pharoah shared. Neil Bogart saw that. He was the founder of Casablanca and Cecil Holmes, my character, was the co-founder and backbone, Neil’s right-hand man. When Timothy Bogart told me about his father – because there was no image, no audio to go by; it’s not like I’m doing the Denzel Washington impersonation – I had to take this character from the experiences of having people in my life who I would actually die for. And there are only a few of those people in my life, I don’t have a big circle.”
“So to tap into that wasn’t ‘difficult,'” Pharoah added, “but it was still a challenge to stay in character and bring all that to the big screen for everyone to feel. I think that we did that here.”
Turn gold will be in cinemas from March 31.