All this changes when Josie and co are discovered by Wyatt Frame (Alan Cumming), who introduces them to Fiona (Parker Posey), ceo of MegaRecords. “Parker and I are the old people on this film,” jokes Cumming. “Can you believe it? But it’s nice being around young girls chatting about boyfriends and school. It’s very slumber party.” He and Posey also took special pleasure in making Wyatt and Fiona as outrageous as possible. “I always said, ‘Parker, you can be as big as you like, as long as you mean it.’ And that’s my motto.”
Within days of their meeting with Wyatt and Fiona, Josie and the Pussycats have a number one single, marketing deals, concert tours, a massive fan base… The Spice Girls may have made it to the top in pretty good time, but Josie and the Pussycats leave them standing.
There’s a catch, of course. There always is. Fiona is a lot more than the ceo of a record company: she and Wyatt have a mission to control the youth of the world with subliminal messages buried in the lyrics of the Pussycats’ songs. The evil duo deal with being found out by trying to split the band, making Josie the star and putting the other Pussycats to sleep. Well, it didn’t work with Geri Halliwell and it ain’t going to work with Josie and the Pussycats. Deciding this is no time to play kitten, the girls plan to fight back.
The price of success: Josie and the Pussycats (with Gabriel Mann as Alan M) are an instant success,
but soon realise they are being manipulated by
Mega Records ceo Fiona (Parker Posey, below) and their
new manager, Wyatt Frame, played by Alan Cumming (previous page)
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Kaplan and Elfont’s story scored high with everyone who had an interest in the Archie’s original. “We were extremely pleased that the film captured the heart and soul of the Pussycats in a truly original way that would not only endear it to fans of the comic books, but also to the public at large,” says Michael Silberkleit, spokesman for the comic-book firm.
The only problem was, the Pussycats couldn’t play. Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid and Rosario Dawson may be rising young stars and have looked and talked just like everyone’s image of Josie and the Pussycats, but none of them was a trained musician and none of them could sing.
The solution? Band camp. For three weeks before shooting started in Vancouver on August 21 last year, the girls put in long days with local BC band Powder getting to know their instruments, the way to work with a microphone and how to put a song across.
| “Rachael was playing until her fingers bled and Tara got so excited when she broke her first drum stick. When you see them playing on camera, they are playing the songs
that you’re hearing” |
“We drilled them every day,” says Kaplan. “They brought their own instruments to rehearsal and packed their own gear and played the songs over and over and over again. “All three of them really committed themselves. We wanted the movie to be authentic - and it is. Rachael was playing until her fingers bled and Tara got so excited when she broke her first drum stick. When you see them playing on camera, they are playing the songs that you’re hearing.”
Josie and the Pussycats with
Mega Records ceo Fiona (Parker Posey)
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The only thing that is not for real is that Josie’s songs are actually sung on the soundtrack by Kay Hanley, lead singer of Letters to Cleo. But the three girls all sing back-up.
“There’s something of these girls in all of us,” sums up Platt. “If we make the right choices and speak from our hearts, we empower ourselves to achieve our goals, dreams and ambitions. That’s a great theme and a great story for everyone.”
