ComingSoon Senior Editor Spencer Legacy spoke with Musica director, writer, and star Rudy Mancuso and star Camila Mendes about the romantic comedy movie. The duo spoke about filming in a fish store and their favorite filming memory. Musica is now available to stream on Prime Video.
“Based on writer, director and star Rudy Mancuso, Música is a coming-of-age love story that follows an aspiring creator with synesthesia, who must come to terms with an uncertain future, while navigating the pressures of love, family and his Brazilian culture in Newark, New Jersey,” reads the movie‘s synopsis.
Spencer Legacy: Rudy, this is your feature directorial debut. What’s been the most rewarding part of taking on and making such a big project?
Rudy Mancuso: Aside from being able to take my life story and adapt it cinematically, it’s been how personal these onscreen relationships became and translated to real-life offscreen relationships, from having the opportunity for my mother to play my mother and shooting in my hometown to the connection and collaborative chemistry that I have with Camila existing both on and off-screen. The lines blurred in a beautiful way, and that’s probably the most rewarding part of the film.
Camila, what was it that drew you to the role of Isabella?
Camila Mendes: I mean, when I read the script, I knew it was something really special. I wasn’t sure if I was going take on the role quite yet, but I had to meet with him because, especially as a fellow Brazilian American in the industry, I feel like it’s very rare to meet people who share that culture. So I was like, “I have to meet with him.” And very quickly, like five minutes into the meeting, I was like, “Oh, no, I have to do this. This is going to be so strong.” I mean, his vision was so clear, and he was so smart and funny in the meeting, and I was like, “Okay, I want to work with this person and I have to work with this person.”
Mancuso: She was going to pass! [Laughs].
Mendes: I was going to pass. [Laughs].
Rudy, the film’s having its premiere at South by Southwest. What does that mean to you and what are you most looking forward to about showing it off?
Mancuso: The opportunity to showcase it in an actual theater — a beautiful theater, at that, with a big screen and proper sound. The film, being as immersive as I tried to make it, lends itself to a theatrical experience. We’re in an amazing city that has a festival that’s quite versatile and eclectic. There’s music, there’s film, there’s tech, there’s diversity, there’s culture … I think a lot of that is also reflected in the film’s themes. So I’m beyond excited.
Camila, that first meeting scene between your character and Rudy in the fish store is so much fun. What was filming that together like?
Mendes: I mean, that one … it was very smelly in that fish market,
Mancuso: It was a real fish market.
Mendes: It was the least romantic setting for a scene like that. [Laughs]. But it was lovely. I mean, that day was really special because I got to watch, for the first time, all the performers do their rhythmic sequences and it was just so impressive. It sounds amazing in the movie, but hearing it in person was also incredible because everything was recorded live. I just remember being blown away by that. And all I had to do was stand there and look pretty. [Laughs].
Mancuso: You did a lot more than that!
Rudy, another person you worked a lot with in the movie is J.B. Smoove. What was it like filming those scenes together at the food truck? He seems like he’s such a funny guy.
Rudy Mancuso: He’s hilarious and he is energetic and the energy’s contagious. I was really, really excited that he came on, because although he’s not necessarily a proficient musician, he’s such a rhythmic person. The cadences of the way he speaks and his improvisational nature really was so appropriate for the scenes that we shot together. I don’t think I’ve laughed that much on any given project as much as I did during his scenes.
Camila, leading up to the premiere, do you have a favorite scene or filming memory that’s really stuck in your mind since doing it?
Mendes: I think the first scene we shot together, which was the scene in the park. That one really set the tone for what the project was going to be. And it was just a very … I don’t know, a very magical day. It was the first time he and I got to work together and when my crush started developing. [Laughs]. So I feel like I just remember that day very vividly.
Mancuso: Mine was developing way before that.
Mendes: Mine was too, but that’s when you really saw it in practice.
