'BE COOL' Milian gets big break with film
Although the singer has been in other movies, she thinks this one might change her career.
By STEPHEN BECKER
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DALLAS -- Christina Milian is never at a loss for laughs.
Her infectious giggle fills the otherwise empty bar at the Adolphus Hotel, but it's hard to figure where she gets the energy to be so sunny. It's only 10 a.m., but the singer-actress has already been up promoting her new film "Be Cool" during a recent Dallas stop for four hours by the time she does her second print interview of the day. She just hit town the night before, and by this time tomorrow, she'll be in San Francisco, doing it all over again.
But upon listening to the excitement in her voice as she recounts sharing the screen with the likes of John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Steve Tyler, it becomes clear. This is someone who feels her time to shine has finally arrived.
"Even though I've been doing this for 10 or 12 years, this is still, I think, probably my breakthrough moment with this film," said Milian, 23.
Linda Moon
In the film, she plays Linda Moon, a promising young pop star that Travolta's Chili Palmer takes under his wing while fighting off her manager (Vince Vaughn), competing record executives (Harvey Keitel and Cedric the Entertainer) and the Russian mob (don't ask). Along the way, Milian belts out a few impressive songs, performs in front of 30,000 people with Aerosmith and generally gets to relive a fictionalized version of her own advancement in the music business. But by the end of the film, it's easy to draw parallels between Linda Moon and Christina Milian.
"For her, and for myself, I feel like in the movie you see everything turn. This is gonna be her change in her career. It's gonna happen for Linda."
It can be argued that it's already happened for Christina. She's got two albums under her belt and another film, "Man of the House," in theaters this week. But she's still pinching herself over landing the role in "Be Cool."
"I can't believe I'm in the middle of this cast. Any actor or musician's dream would be to play the role of Linda Moon, and I can't believe I'm the one playing it. I heard hundreds of girls auditioned for it, including some of the most famous singers that you can think of in my age range," she said.
"Every other scene, even if I'm not in it, they're saying Linda, Linda, Linda Moon, always referring back to my character, and I'm like, 'They're talking about me!'"
Those people referring to her in the film are another source of excitement. While she's previously starred alongside a few big names -- Ice Cube in "Torque" and Omar Epps in "The Wood" -- those films can't come close to "Be Cool" for sheer star power.
"It's hard to stay in character when you're standing next to John Travolta or Vince Vaughn is joking with you, and I'm like 'I'm in a conversation with you? This is nuts.'"
Musicians on set
But Milian says she really felt starstruck when spending time with the other fellow musicians who populate the film. OutKast's Andre 3000 has a small role as a wannabe gangsta, and when the cameras weren't rolling, the talk between the two often turned back to music.
"I've always wanted to do a song with him," Milian said. So when the Grammy winner rained compliments on one of her song-and-dance numbers in the movie, "I was like, 'Yes!' Maybe this is a step closer to all of that!"
Though she doesn't get a chance to perform with Andre 3000 in the film, she does get to light up the stage with Aerosmith. Steven Tyler plays himself in the movie, and through an extremely lucky (read: improbable) turn of events, Linda finds herself onstage with the band during a tour stop in L.A.
In reality, the footage was shot during an Aerosmith concert in Boston. With no choreography and no real rehearsal time, Milian had to hop onstage and duet with Tyler on the 1993 hit "Cryin" in front of the band's hometown crowd. Though more of a pop singer herself, Milian says sharing the stage with the legendary band brought out her inner rock chick.
"I got out there and was like, 'Let's do this,'" she said. "Linda Moon, she's confident, and this is her moment in the film, and I swear when I got out there, I threw Linda Moon out the door and I was like, 'It's me!' I felt like a total rock star."
Plans
Whether being a real life rock star is in her future -- she's about to head back into the studio with high-power production help from Jay-Z and L.A. Reid -- is still up for debate. For now, she's happy just to be existing in that place where she knows she's on the brink of something big.
But how to gauge when the crossover from "star in the making" to "certified star" has occurred? While some on the rise may flip through magazines looking for their picture or Google themselves to see if any fan sites have popped up, Milian has her own method: eBay.
"It's awesome that I found three pages, whereas a couple of years ago it was like one," she said about her search two days ago that returned items such as refrigerator magnets, fake money and key chains all bearing her likeness.
"I haven't found the chewed gum or anything like that. I don't think anybody cares for that. Not yet ..."