'Girl You Know It's True' Interview: Matthias Schweighöfer

(L to R) Matthias Schweighöfer and Bella Dayne in ‘Girl You Know It’s True’. Photo: Vertical.

Opening in theaters on August 9th is the new biopic ‘Girl You Know It’s True’, which follows the life and career of Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus, otherwise known as the infamous pop group Milli Vanilli.

Directed by Simon Verhoeven (‘Men in the City’), the film stars Elan Ben Ali and Tijan Njie as Fabrice and Rob, respectively, as well as Matthias Schweighöfer (‘Army of the Dead’) as their music producer Frank Farian.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Matthias Schweighöfer about his work on ‘Girl You Know It’s True’, his first reaction to the screenplay, his approach to playing Frank Farian, Milli Vanilli’s story, who was responsible, working with Elan Ben Ali and Tijan Njie, and collaborating with director Simon Verhoeven.

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Matthias Schweighöfer stars in ‘Girl You Know It’s True’.

Moviefone: To begin with, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and were you familiar with Milli Vanilli’s story?

Matthias Schweighöfer: I was not that familiar with Milli Vanilli because I was born in the east of Germany. When the wall came down, it was 1989. So that was the exact same time with the scandal. West Germany reunited with East Germany, and I was totally into Americanism. Everything from America was great. I didn’t really focus on Milli Vanilli. But a few years later, and especially when it came about the prepping on the film, and after reading the screenplay, I thought, “Oh, my God. Right. That’s a German story we need to tell that story. We need to do it.” So, I read the screenplay and I thought, “Oh. Thank God that I can be a part of this film.”

MF: What was your reaction to the structure of the screenplay, which has Rob and Fabrice narrating their own story and other characters breaking the fourth wall?

MS: First, I thought, “Wow. Will that work? Okay. We’re doing this.” When we were shooting the film, I thought that was smart because it gave us an opportunity to say, “Hey. That’s our take on the story. We just try to do our best, but we can involve you in some questions you could ask yourself. Even we don’t know the answer because we’re with you, the audience. We have the same questions. So please enjoy the ride.”

(L to R) Tijan Njie, Matthias Schweighöfer and Elan Ben Ali in ‘Girl You Know It’s True’. Photo: Vertical.

MF: Can you talk about your approach to playing Frank Farian and what you learned about him from your research?

MS: So of course, when I started prepping for the film, I watched a lot of documentaries, and I knew it’s a supporting role. It’s an important supporting role, but the spotlight is on the boys, and on the story of Rob and Fab. I watched a lot of documentaries because he had a difficult accent in German, so two different accents combined. So, I tried to do my best because when he was talking in English, he had the same accent. So, I worked on that. Then I had a Zoom call with Frank just one time and I wanted to ask him because to prep for a character, you need to know, “What did you feel? Can you remember what your feeling was? What was your goal? But it was difficult because I was talking to an 80-year-old man, and I wanted to ask him, “Hey. Can you really reflect totally honestly about what happened 30 years ago in that crazy time? Would you tell me the truth?” So, it was a bit walking on eggshells. So, he was talking more about him, but not really about that time.

MF: In your opinion, did Frank take advantage of Fabrice and Rob or were they just naïve about the music business?

MS: I think that’s a good but tough question, and I don’t want to answer it because I don’t really know what his intention was when he was younger. I don’t know and that’s why we wanted to make this film and ask those questions, “What would you have done?” I know that he dreamt of making good music and becoming number one in America. That’s what I knew. Same with the boys. The boys wanted to sing, and the boys wanted to be performers and artistes and musicians. People need to watch the film to answer your question.

Elan Ben Ali and Tijan Njie in 'Girl You Know It's True'.

(L to R) Tijan Njie and Elan Ben Ali in ‘Girl You Know It’s True’. Photo: Vertical.

MF: Do you think Frank knew that the end was coming? Is that why he held a press conference and told the world the truth?

MS: The only thing I can say is I think he thought he was responsible because he ended it. He pulled the trigger. But to be honest, the way to that, I don’t know anything about that time or the truth. I just heard when he watched the film, he said, “Okay,” he’s good with it. We never spoke about that when he saw the finished film. So, this is quite a mystery

MF: Do you think it was fair what happened to Rob and Fabrice?

MS: No. It wasn’t fair. No, of course, because the boys, they had a dream. I mean, it wasn’t fair because they wanted to sing and they wanted to perform, and it wasn’t fair to the audience because. That was a question we always ask ourselves, “What would’ve happened if everyone would’ve known the truth before?” Because what they did, the songs and the music, let’s say, this whole combination, everything, that was a fantastic music product. It was very entertaining. I thought, what would’ve happened if the people would’ve known?

(L to R) Tijan Njie and Elan Ben Ali in ‘Girl You Know It’s True’. Photo: Vertical.

MF: Can talk about working with Elan Ben Ali and Tijan Njie?

MS: Elan and Tijan, to be honest, it was so nice to see them because it was their first big feature film, and they’ve been amazing. It’s their story. They’ve been acting their hearts out, and they’ve been amazing. I think for them, they lived together. They choreographed together. They spent so much time together and they became these artistes Rob and Fab, that was fantastic.

MF: Finally, what was it like working with director Simon Verhoeven on set?

MS: Simon was great because years ago we wanted to do a movie together, but it didn’t happen. So, I started my directing career. He started his directing career. It was cool to come back now, I think, after 10 or 15 years on a project that was so important to us. We had a good but very exhausting time. I’m so happy that the film is now in the US and people can see it. It’s so cool. It’s great.

“The biggest scandal in music history.”

Not Yet Rated2 hr 4 minAug 9th, 2024

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For his next project, successful music producer Frank Farian hires dancers Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan and helps the two friends to a skyrocketing success, under… Read the Plot

What is the plot of ‘Girl You Know It’s True’?

The movie follows the meteoric rise of European dancers Rob Pilatus (Tijan Njie) and Fabrice Morvan (Elan Ben Ali) as Milli Vanilli to become one of the most successful pop duos of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Led by established music producer Frank Farian (Matthias Schweighöfer), the two then-unknowns became instant global stars with three number-one hits in the US singles charts, and many more around the world. The catch: Only few knew that the duo did not sing themselves. At the height of their fame, Milli Vanilli won the Grammy Award, but the truth was revealed shortly after, which up until today is considered one of the world’s biggest scandals in music history.