My daughter and I attended a Q and A with the band, One Direction, to discuss the opening of their new movie, This is Us. I usually don’t care for group Q and As, because it is hard to ask follow up questions. (You see, in group interviews, you must wait your turn and be polite and wait to be called on with your hand in the air. Once a question is asked, you sit and wait for the response. To ask a follow up question would be rude and take away someone else’s time, and I’m not a rude guy.) I would have loved to interview these guys one on five, but I enjoyed the interview and was impressed by how they carried themselves with humility, politeness, and graciousness.
With a rousing “Hello,” Liam, Zayn, Louis, Niall, and Harry from One Direction were off and running as they entered the room. These guys leave very little room for uncomfortable pauses. They take questions and go with them. Here’s some of the quotes from the day.
On their parent’s encouragement:
Liam – “My dad always gave me loads of advice. My mom would just say, ‘do the best that you can do.’”
Zayn -“My mom said that I had a good voice, but I thought that’s what all moms have to say to their kid. That’s kind of why I left for X Factor in the first place.”
Louis -“My mom filled me with confidence like every mother really. She thought I was the best at everything.”
Their lyrics:
Liam – They “can be ambiguous, depends on how you interpret them.”
Watching their parents’ emotional scenes in the film:
Liam- “It was Kind of hard… but quite nice because we don’t get to see that side of our parents.”
Louis – “I felt a little guilty.”
Advice for chasing dreams
Louis – “Give it a go or you’ll never know.”
Zayn – “Anything’s possible. Dream hard enough and try hard enough, you can do it.”
Liam – “Don’t fear a great opportunity… go for it.”
On being themselves:
Harry – “We try to be ourselves… the way the world is at the moment, there’s so many things telling people to be other things than themselves… We try to be wild without being stupid.”
On crazy moms
Niall- “One time some mom gave me her number.”
Harry- “Sometimes they’re (moms) worse (than daughters).”
Time off
Harry – “Best part is to not have to set the alarm… Nice to go home and do the normal things that you really did… Sitting at home and having a nice meal with the parents.”
Niall- “I do as many normal things as I can. I like to go gigs and concerts and stuff.”
On the filming This is Us:
Niall- “We didn’t want too much creative input. We gave them access to all areas. If you’re worried about what people are shooting, then it won’t be a good movie.”
On personal freedom:
Harry – “The nice thing now, even though 3 years is a long time, we know what kind of band we are… We have an incredible team around us who help us make a lot of decisions and it seems to be a good team so far.”
Niall – “You can’t leave lads our age let loose.”
One of the things I enjoyed about observing these guys is they don’t take themselves too seriously. Often times you see a boy band and they are forced to grow up fast and give answers that are much older than they are. With One Direction, you get the sense that their answers are honest without any BS. For the “haters,” they should ask themselves how they would handle fame and fortune if they were thrust into the spotlight at a young age and given the world. How would you handle it? I would have lost my mind. I came close at their age to going crazy and I was a poor college kid.
I don’t know One Direction personally and only spent 30 minutes with them, so I have no idea how they are in real life. Judging only by the interview with them and the interview with Morgan Spurlock, along with what was covered in the film, they seem like alright lads.
To read my review of the film, click here.
To read my interview with Morgan Spurlock, click here.
To read about what it was like taking my young daughter to see the film, click here.