Grace VanderWaal on being a role model, megalopolis and new music

Grace VanderWaal captured the hearts of the country as a ukulele-wielding 12-year-old America’s Got Talent. Now VanderWaal, a 20-year-old singer and actress, is gearing up for a new album after releasing two singles in the last two months and starring in the upcoming Francis Ford Coppola film Megalopolis.

Just a day before the film hits theaters, VanderWaal spoke The Hollywood Reporter via Zoom about her experiences working on the film, how she has developed musically and what she is passionate about these days.

She made her acting debut at Disney Star GirlThe 20-year-old isn’t ruling out more projects in the future, but seems to be focused on her next album. VanderWaal, who spent most of her formative years in the public eye, says her next album is “heavy” but a close look at what she’s going through.

“There’s no real resolution to the album because it’s a freeze of what I’m going through mentally,” she says THR. “I found it effective and artistic because it is so real and kind of dark, but reality has no solution.”

Below, VanderWaal speaks candidly about her career and life outside of music and acting.

How was your experience at work? Megalopolis? How did you feel when you started it and how do you feel now that it’s finally out?

The experience on set and executing my part was really creative and very collaborative. I definitely felt like I could make anything my own. It was very free in that respect. Going into it, I feel like I tend to not process things, so I guess I just thought: It was still far from real. And maybe that’s a good thing because it doesn’t upset me. I’m just being a bit careless about things. I’ve seen the film a few times now and I’m really excited for its release. I am happy with what I gave to the project and overall I am only a small part of this huge portrait. It just blew my mind and that’s why I’m glad to even be a little finger of the monster.

How familiar were you with Francis Ford Coppola and his work before signing on to the project? Most of his works were published before you were born. So how did you meet him?

Even though it was of course a little before our time, I think his work has established itself in film history, it is simply timeless. His work will thrive for generations. Obviously I knew not only his films but also his name very well. This has almost become a pop culture thing…is Coppola. You can watch cartoons and they’ll make jokes and you just always know that those are (his) films. (Laughs) These are (his) films. I definitely knew exactly who he was and The Godfather and all of his truly iconic works.

Your character in Megalopolis is a young woman who finds herself in the crosshairs of two men who are playing power games against each other. What was it about this storyline that particularly interested you in the project?

There were many things that attracted me to Vesta. I never really just do project after project. I thought that his (Coppola) quality in films was expressed in the fact that every single detail could have a side effect. It is so detailed and a person in itself. It doesn’t matter. It could be an extra, and you could say, Oh, that’s a very dimensional character. I liked the virginal aspect carried over into modern times. I thought it was a crystal clear commentary on the very conservative pop stars we have today. And how could anyone in Rome hear the Vestals and think how depressing and crazy that is? History was once like this, but it is still like this. I really, really liked that. I think that’s a big part of the film. We can just look back and think about what a disaster that was if we’re currently living within the script. I really, really liked the purity culture aspect. Obviously she’s a singer and there’s a personal connection there.

Can you imagine continuing to trade in the future?

This was really inspiring for me and made me want to do more amazing things, but I just feel like amazing things are rare and require patience. So if something great came across my desk, I would absolutely jump in and be a part of it.

Your single “Call it What You Want,” released in August, felt like a bridge between the music you had previously released and your latest single “What’s Left of Me,” which feels like a reintroduction of your personality as an artist. Was that intentional?

It was pretty much exactly that. It was intentional, really. When I came to Pulse Records with an album, a world and a concept and we asked ourselves, “How can I take people there in a way that I feel most comfortable and confident in?” I don’t want that project has shock value and I don’t want that to discredit it. It was really important for us to slowly integrate my new project into the music that people know and what I do.

Did you feel like you were pigeonholed musically because of your background?

Yes, but only alone. I think we end up telling ourselves that people like us because of one thing, and in doing so we probably limit ourselves more than any other outsider. So I felt pressured and restricted, but mostly because of my own spiral of what I thought was going on.

In your 20s, are you able to think about your time? America’s Got Talent with a new light?

I’m happy. I’m so happy with everything that happened. America’s Got Talent was nothing. I mean, this is such a machine that it doesn’t really… you know what I mean? You just do things and they make it really easy to do that. I think it’s the readjustment afterwards, because that can be really nice to just go through. I think the hardest thing about the industry is that there is no set game plan, formula or even daily routine to follow. I think a lot of people can feel really lost. Basically you just have to invent it. It is unique for everyone. It’s very strange in that way, but I think everything happened for a reason and I’m happy with the place I’m in and with the music.

Have there been musicians who have been there for you or mentored you over the years?

No. No not really. I mean, there’s always maybe a brief communication, but no, definitely not a close relationship or mentorship. It’s so funny. Even my label was like, “Oh, do you have any famous friends or people in the industry and stuff?” And I was like, “No, I barely have any friends in my life.” I definitely don’t have any famous friends.

How would you reintroduce Grace to the world today? When you grow up, what do you wish people knew about you versus the preconceived notion they might have on TV about who you were when you were 12?

I like to create and produce what I would like to consume myself. That’s why I have confidence in what I do, because I’m a person who also enjoys listening to music and watching artists do cool things. I like quality. I like thought and art, and that’s pretty much all you need to know about me, and if you like or crave those things, I might be the person to entertain that in some way in the near future.

What do you do when you’re not working on music?

I love watching movies and TV and I definitely love decorating my house. This is a huge hobby of mine, exploring things to make my house even crazier. Hanging out with my cat is literally what I do when I’m not working.

What excites you these days?

Because of my development and what I’ve been through, I’ve experienced a lot. Especially with the Internet, I can see… I mean, almost like a living social experiment, I saw the world take in a little girl who loved to sing, and that was a very hard burden for me to deal with still struggling today. I think when something is so powerful… there was a lot of disgust that then turned into fascination because I wanted to break down why that was. If so, does that make sense? I am very, very passionate and inspired by patriarchal values ​​and systems in the past and also how they still subconsciously impact every single person today without even knowing it. And how that personally takes a look at how people see me and how I see people and other women. I just think it’s an interesting coding that we all live by, just being made up of these invisible numbers and calculating how we absorb things. This is probably the most important thing that I care about and that I always want to learn more about and could talk about for hours.

How did you manage to be a role model to young women growing up while still doing that yourself?

I never felt the pressure to be a role model because I was 12 and 13 years old. Just the inherent pressure, and not even pressure, I mean for good reason, but obviously I’m protecting myself in some ways. I think that somehow made me a “good role model” because I followed the rules and did everything, but I think people don’t realize that I wasn’t just a 13 year old from heaven has fallen. My mother watched everything I did. She is there most of the time. I’m not going to be in an interview and say, “This is what me and my friends do in secret,” and my mom is right there. These days, I don’t want to say I don’t want to be a role model, but I definitely don’t prepare to be that person. I’m still breaking down a lot of feelings for myself. I’m definitely not able to… I feel like this album and everything I’m getting into is heavy and there’s no real resolution to the album because it’s a freeze in time of what I I’m just going through it mentally. I found it effective and artistic because it’s so real and kind of dark, but reality has no solution. Sometimes you go through things without being able to draw much meaning or lesson from them. You just went through it and now you just have to carry it with you. This is something that is difficult to grieve and get through. When I do that, I’m happy to tell people, but I just don’t want people to say, “That spoke to me and ignited these feelings.” How do I get through them?” And I’ll just say, “I don’t know either. I do not know it either.”