(somber piano music begins)
- I don't like anyone
listening to the songs I write.
(somber piano music continues)
- [Male voice] Ever?
- They're for me.
(somber piano music continues)
- [Male Voice] In one word.
- Welcome to THR In Depth,
Apple TV+ "Little Voice."
I'm Josh Wigler with
"The Hollywood Reporter"
and I'm joined here today by
the incredible cast and crew
behind Apple TV+ "Little Voice".
It's my pleasure to welcome
executive producers Sara
Bareilles and Jessie Nelson
and stars, Brittany O'Grady,
Sean Teale, Colton Ryan,
Shalini Bathina, Kevin Valdez,
and Phillip Johnson Richardson.
Thank you all for joining.
What a group?
Sara and Jessie, I'd
like to start with you.
What can you tell us about the early
development of the series,
some of your first initial conversations,
your first sparks of ideas
as you were both
approaching "Little Voice".
- Well, there's one story
that's emblematic of the whole thing.
Once we, you know came together,
Sara and J.J. had had a conversation
about Sara potentially doing a show there,
and Sara began to kind of shape,
a show inspired by Felicity
about a young singer songwriter.
And concurrently was writing another show,
sort of influenced by how
inspired I was by Sara
when we worked together on "Waitress".
So we combined these two ideas.
And in my mind, I remember Sara saying,
"Let's call it "Little Voice"."
And in Sara's mind, she
remembers it as I said,
"Let's call it Little Voice"."
So that to me is like
emblematic of our collaboration.
But we were really excited about
the idea of doing something
that spoke to all of the insecurities
and self doubt and struggles,
that accompany, you know attempting
to manifest your dreams as a young artist.
And Sara and I had that
in common as young women.
We both had a lot of obstacles
that we had to overcome to
get to where we wanted to be.
- Well I think one of the main things
that ended up taking shape,
that happened really organically
was also Jessie and I had both recently
transplanted to New York
city from Los Angeles,
working on "Waitress"
and fell madly in love with the city
and all of it's musicality, and diversity,
and opportunity, and hardship.
And so,
placing this story here,
and now, sadly looking back this show
feels so nostalgic for a time that,
you know, we were all aching
to be able to touch again,
this sort of romantic,
cinematic New York city
that is maskless and,
you know, and communal.
But, you know the stories in the show,
it's not autobiographical of course,
but they're very much
inspired by experiences.
I had or people I know,
or lots of my artist
friends in the community.
You know, when you're
first kind of getting
your sea legs as a young artist
and all the opinions that come at you,
which are just so charming
and you know having to learn
to discover your voice and
to speak up for yourself.
And that's what I love
about working with Jessie.
We're continually even as adult women
constantly reminding each other,
what is the truest thing
in yourself saying?
And how can we help each other
kind of stand up towards that?
So, it's really,
it's a blessing to have
a collaborator like her.
And then this incredible cast
came to life.
- Yes!.
- I mean, my God it's unbelievable.
I look at your faces on the screen.
I'm so happy.
- Well, that is exactly
where I want to turn to next
because this series is not possible
without the people who are bringing
these little voices to life,
these very big voices to life.
And I'd like to go down the
line and talk to all of you
about your first memories
with joining this series.
Audition memories, audition
stories, casting stories.
And we'll start with you Brittany.
If anything comes to mind about
beginning the process of
joining "Little Voice."
- I was doing a project in
New Zealand at the time,
and I was lucky enough
to connect with Jessie and Sara
and be able to portray Bess.
And as soon as I got to New York,
we kind of just hit the ground running.
I started taking guitar
lessons, and piano lessons,
and working with Sara,
and working with Jessie,
and connecting and finding the importance
and the stakes in the relationships
that Bess was going to have with people
who cast the relationships that she has
with the characters on the show
who are played by our amazing cast
was so important to her
life and the season.
So, it was an incredible experience
and everybody was so
loving and so amazing.
- I remember, you know
it's that time of year
when it comes up in like February, March,
where everything is cold and gray.
This script was just so lovely
and I hadn't done anything like it,
and I hadn't read anything that read so,
I hate using the word
(indistinct) but truthful.
Like what Sara was saying there about
what speaks to your truest self.
So they didn't need to have
anything other than,
the words that were on the
page where the only words
that ever needed to be said.
And it made total sense,
whether it was simple
or stressful or lovely.
But it was just obviously,
so soulful and lovely.
- Kevin, how about you?
What do you remember
about joining the series
and your casting story?
- When I got the call,
I attend something
called Futures Explored,
and it's a film and media workshop
that's like founded by Joey Travolta
and it helps provide
potential job opportunities,
in the media industry for
people on the autism spectrum.
The program director
or the person that like runs
part of Futures Explored
got this message from Jessie and Sara
saying that they wanted
someone with autism,
somebody to play Louie on "Little Voice"
and then wait a while they
had me fly over to New York
and have me audition again
and posting for them.
I was so confident in myself
and it wasn't until that I
had checked out of the hotel
ready to fly back home
that I got the news that
I was officially cast.
- Phillip let's let's round it out.
What's what's your story
with joining the series.
- I was in Chicago in
February and I auditioned
I think for Colton's role.
And then I auditioned for a
Sean's role like later on,
maybe like May or something like that.
I had moved back to New York.
And then after that,
I didn't hear from them for maybe like,
I wanna say like a month or two.
And I was sad about that
too 'cause I was like,
this show sounds awesome.
I wanna do the show so
bad, I'm really sad.
But I was going to this other audition
at the same casting office.
(loud giggle)
I'll never forget this.
I literally begged my agents to not like,
I did not wanna go to
this audition at all.
I was like, "Please
don't let me go to this."
They were be like, "Go to the audition."
I was like, "No."
They were like, "Go to the audition."
I said, "Aight whatever."
So I sat down reading
lines and I was like,
"Oh my goodness, I hate this."
So as I was reading these lines,
Jessie and Sara walk out of the room.
And I was like, "Oh, my God."
And they were like, "Phil."
I was like, "You guys remembered my name.
"Oh my God, this is crazy."
And so we ended up talking
for like five minutes
and I was like, "Yeah."
And I had just, I was about
to get a job at Postmates.
'Cause I was like out of money.
And then we talked about five minutes.
I went in, I butchered that
audition and I came back out.
I called and I was like,
"Yo, this is (indistinct)."
I got the call the next day, I got tested.
And then the Monday after that,
I got the call that I got the job.
So everything really was
like, meant to happen.
It was beautiful.
- One of the things that "Little Voice"
is trying to capture,
and this is for you Jessie and Sara,
is this idea of when you're
at the starting line of adulthood
and figuring out who you are
and figuring out how
to get your big break,
or just learning out how to carve
some sense of individuality,
you know questing forward in that realm.
And with that being sort
of the spirit of the show,
I'd love to get your perspectives
on what it was like to meet these actors
who we're talking with right now.
Who you've worked with for so long
on bringing this show to life.
- As they each told their stories,
I flashed on what we put
each of them through.
First of all, it took so long because
we couldn't find Bess and Louie.
So we really weren't gonna
cast the other people
till we found them.
And that was a really long search.
With Phil, Sara and I were in the room,
literally going, "Who are
we going to cast as Benny?
"Arghh, let's go to the bathroom."
And we walk out and
there's Phil sitting there
about to get his Postmates job.
And it was like the
universe talking to us,
"Of course it's meant to be Phil."
I remember with Colton, you
singing one of Sara's songs.
I wish I looked pretty?
- Yeah, "Let the rain" that song.
- Kevin had the greatest moment of all,
which is when he exited his audition.
We said, "Kevin, you did great."
And he said, "I did, didn't I?"
- It was an exercise in faith because
we were at the casting
table for a lot of months
and a lot of sessions.
We really, I think
always prioritize someone
with a kind heart.
And Jessie and I really both believe
in leading with kindness
and trying to create an environment
that makes people feel safe and protected
and you know, because
shit's gonna go wrong.
So you wanna have good
people in the boat with you.
You know what I mean?
- Music is fundamental to this series.
It's the lifeblood of "Little Voice."
So I wanted to ask everybody
if there was a moment
of music in your life,
whether it was early in your career,
or even before that,
that you view as
particularly transformative.
And Colton, I'll start with you.
- It was one night, Sara and Tyler
and I think Jessie you might've
been there for this part.
We were recording a lot of vocals
and there's a song called "In July",
which is just like
this song by, Samora Pinderhughes
and it's supposed to be
like in the vein of a song
that Sam has written for Bess.
And, we were just sitting on the couch,
I mean I didn't realize how comfy cozy
it was in a room like that.
And they just hand me
the mic and we're like,
"Just try stuff."
And I honestly had never
felt more comfortable
as weird as it is to say that in my life.
This show actually kind of opened my eyes
to how much I was trying
to put it away for so long.
And I never realized kind of,
how much it meant to me
until like moments like that,
where I actually was like,
okay, this should be really scary.
But for some reason,
it's like I'm the most jazzed
I've been in a long time.
So that was really, really cool for me.
- Shalini how about you?
Is there a moment from early in your life,
musically that you really connect to,
that you feel brought you to this moment?
- My main connection to
music is through dance.
I studied Indian classical dance,
a form of Indian classical
dance called kuchipudi
since I was five.
So like from an early age,
listening to, you know,
learning different beats
which you call talam.
And then the different ragas,
which is like totally interchanged
with each song and style.
So for me, like I absorbed it
through my body in some ways.
So I actually listen,
when I listen to music,
I start choreographing
and moving through it.
So that's why Sara's
songs for me were like,
they're so unique that I just,
I've always been hold to her
style of music in general.
So even like the music I listen to now
is usually based on some kind
of melody, beautiful melody.
- Kevin, round us out.
Who is more connected to musical theater,
you or Louie King?
- Probably, Louie King.
Since the only time I've
like ever been to a Broadway
was like doing a school trip.
But, regarding like a question
of like how music impacted me?
It started at a young age.
I am a gut.
I was really interested in classical music
as like a little kid.
And also I've also
studied on a Frank Sinatra
and his voice since I slowly
started to realize that
I've started to like,
I'm in his like vocal range.
And so my dad also wanted me to like,
mention that to you guys as well.
So kudos to him.
- And Jessie and Sara
I'll bring this to you.
Whether it's a moment
that you'd wanna bring up
about your collaboration
together or something,
something earlier that you think
brought you to "Little Voice."
- My grandfather was the first violinist
in the New York Philharmonic.
We were living in LA.
By the time this happened,
he had a stroke when I was a little girl,
and he lost his ability to speak.
He was a Russian immigrant and
when we would go visit him,
he couldn't talk at all.
And I remember thinking,
"When grandpa talk again?"
But my dad would go you know play an A
and he would hold up his arm
and my grandpa would bow it.
And, you know and then he would say like,
"Play Beethoven's 9th."
And my grandfather would play
the entire symphony on my dad's arm.
And they taught me at a young age
that music was stored in a different part
of the brain than language.
So that became a storyline
I always wanted to do.
And we got to do it
with June script's
character in the finale.
Just cause that seems like
such a miracle to me.
So it was like at a really young age,
I sort of realized the power of music
through watching him.
- Music to me is like the
most, it is my church.
It is my spiritual belief it is like,
I go to songwriting to like
worship at the alter of music.
I think it is the most powerful force,
you know besides love in the world.
And I love that for everybody here
it's like music does the
tapping on the window.
But from a very young age, I was,
you know, someone who had a
hard time finding my place
in my world and music
really, really early on
became the world I could sort
of find myself inside of.
And I got to sing and be
the center of attention,
which is all I ever
really wanted, come on!
(soft bang)
(laughs softly)
- Which is all any of us want.
Well, speaking of a music moments,
I feel like we've got everybody here.
This is a pretty good group of people
to make some music moments now Sara?
- What do you guys think
about doing some karaoke?
- Yes.
- Yes, I mean come on!
This is a tradition we
started when Jessie and I
our show "Waitress",
we started doing "Cast Album Karaoke"
where people would come and
sing songs from the show
and you get to hear interpretations.
And so we have this wonderful collection
of very musical beings.
So, I think this is the time.
This is the time.
So to start it off,
you guys don't know who's going first,
Colton you're up.
- Yes!
- Yes!
- Oh men, why I'm I nervous?
Okay.
(somber music begins)
♪ What if I leave the light on ♪
♪ So the dark has a friend ♪
♪ If the ghost light is burning ♪
♪ Will it light something in ♪
♪ Let the dark keep her secrets ♪
♪ That she keeps swallowing ♪
♪ Let her borrow my voice now ♪
♪ What if darkness could see ♪
♪ What would the dark say if she could ♪
♪ What I wouldn't give
if for just one night ♪
♪ I could shine so you would see me ♪
♪ But all I've ever been is
the absence of the light ♪
♪ I don't shine no one sees me ♪
♪ So I want you you you ♪
♪ Want you you you ♪
♪ Want you you you ♪
♪ Want you you you ♪
- I love it.
I love it.
Okay that was beautiful.
All right Kevin, you're up.
You're up, we're so excited.
- All right, here we go.
(somber music)
♪ Dear hope ♪
♪ If you can hear me don't go ♪
♪ I don't feel you now
but I know you're there ♪
♪ Dear hope ♪
♪ I could really use you now ♪
♪ Throw me a rope ♪
♪ Throw me a rope ♪
♪ Throw me a rope ♪
♪ Throw me a rope ♪
♪ Dear hope ♪
(soft cheers and claps)
- Was that Frank Sinatra singing?
- I think it was.
- Yeah, sort of like that.
Yeah, I'm at the same range as that.
(soft giggles)
- He's so funny.
Don't wanna keep you up for three hours.
Miss Brittany.
- Give me one second I'm gonna set it up.
(somber music begins)
♪ I made a list of what I love ♪
♪ To make a document that shows
what I think I'm made of ♪
♪ To tell me what I should do ♪
♪ And hope it turns me
in the direction of you ♪
♪ I'm facing all of my fears ♪
♪ I've lined them up and wonder how ♪
♪ I've been with them for years ♪
♪ They had me crippled before ♪
♪ They made a home in my heart ♪
♪ But they're not welcome anymore ♪
♪ More ♪
♪ I've spent too much time
wasted at the border line ♪
♪ Watch me as I walk right through ♪
♪ No more running ♪
♪ I'm coming back ♪
♪ Like I was before ♪
♪ Standing at the open door ♪
♪ Watch me as I walk right through ♪
♪ No more running ♪
♪ I'm coming back to you ♪
(soft claps)
- So beautiful.
- That was so nerve wracking.
- I know I'm like, I'm sweating
and this is like a sock shirt.
So there's a really good chance
we're gonna see (indistinct)
I'm sweating
- Same.
- and I'm not even doing anything.
- Same.
- And somebody you won't
see on the cast album
but you're gonna see here in karaoke .
Mr. Sean Teale everybody!
(loud claps)
- Welcome to another episode of
Brits singing stuff badly
and butchering songs.
Oh my God, I'm having a heart attack.
♪ Oh honey don't you cry ♪
♪ At absence of the light ♪
♪ Even the sun must rest his weary eyes ♪
♪ So let the night wrap stars around you ♪
♪ Weigh the anchor ♪
♪ And sail into the night's joy ♪
♪ You can be king of the lost voice ♪
(loud cheers and claps)
- You get a thousand million
points for doing that Sean.
And it--
- Oh, you know what?
I would never, ever have done
it if it wasn't you people.
- Okay Shalini.
- Okay, give me a second.
(indistinct)
Okay, hang on (loud giggles).
What I'm I doing?
(laughs loudly)
(somber music begins)
♪ If I start with a guitar ♪
♪ Even though I don't play well ♪
♪ And be still until the melody
claims what's on my heart ♪
♪ Then it won't have to stay there ♪
♪ And soon I can set it free ♪
♪ Simple and true ♪
♪ I just don't know what
I'm gonna do without you ♪
♪ Simple and plain ♪
♪ And I just don't know ♪
♪ How I would ever say it any other way ♪
♪ Simple and true ♪
♪ I still love you ♪
(loud cheers and claps)
- Bravo!
- You know, who's last?
And who's, we saved you.
We saved you Phil.
- Whoa, one my heart
is beating really fast.
I'm sweating.
- [Sara] Mine is too.
(somber music begins)
- Is that good?
Okay wait, wait, wait.
(somber music continues)
Take two.
(somber music continues)
♪ I don't know what it is ♪
♪ What it is about me ♪
♪ I don't know how to
get where I'm going ♪
♪ And I keep showing up
where I've already been ♪
♪ Don't know which way is up ♪
♪ I can't seem to get clear ♪
♪ When I know that I'm
stuck in the middle of ♪
♪ Moving too little ♪
♪ Just standing here ♪
♪ I don't know anything ♪
♪ So I am not yet ♪
♪ What I will be ♪
♪ But on your mark set ♪
♪ Ready watch me ♪
♪ I'm on my way now ♪
♪ And if it's the way down ♪
♪ Then as I fall I'll just have to admit ♪
♪ I don't know anything ♪
♪ I don't know anything ♪
♪ I don't know anything
anything anything yet ♪
(somber music continues)
I'm so nervous.
(loud claps and cheers)
(soft giggles)
- Goosebumps, that's just amazing.
- Sara, will you sing a song?
- I mean, I suppose I could try.
- Oh boy!
(bright upbeat music)
- Slow intro.
This is your girl,
I like that, I like that.
Energy move through you (indistinct).
♪ The air I breath my moon and my soul ♪
♪ Dance is my bird ♪
♪ Dance is my lung ♪
♪ Dance dance dance ♪
♪ Dance is my lung ♪
♪ My lung ♪
♪ Dance dance dance ♪
♪ Dance is lung ♪
I'm sure this is going on the internet.
Anyway thank you so much.
Cast Album Karaoke.
(loud cheers and claps)
- Thank you everybody for
watching THR In Depth,
Apple TV+ "Little Voice".
I wanna thank again,
the cast and crew of
Apple TV+ "Little voice."
Thank you for being here.
Sara, Jessie, Brittany, Sean,
Colton, Shalani, Kevin and Phillip.
Thank you all so much for
the fantastic conversation
and the even more fantastic music session.
Take care everybody bye.
- Thank you Josh.
- And thank you Josh.
(soft claps)
