Here are 5 Hollywood Stargirl fun facts the cast and director shared during the press day. The follow-up film to Stargirl hits Disney+ on June 3rd!
Hollywood Stargirl follows Stargirl as she moves to LA with her mother. She quickly finds a few friends, two brothers who are making a film that they want her to be in. This film gives fans a more mature look at Stargirl, as she navigates the challenges of putting her wants and needs first, and living in Hollywood.
During the press day for Hollywood Stargirl, the cast and director shared stories about their experience filming in LA, learning from their characters, and writing an original story that wasn’t based on the books.
Participating Talent:
- Grace VanderWaal (“Hollywood Stargirl”)
- Judy Greer (“Ana Caraway”)
- Elijah Richardson (“Evan”)
- Tyrel Jackson Williams (“Terrell”)
- Julia Hart (Director / Screenwriter)
5 Hollywood Stargirl Fun Facts
Filming in LA
The first film, Stargirl, was filmed in Albuquerque, but this one was actually filmed in LA. Director and Screenwriter Julia Hart lives in LA, so she was able to make this movie a bit of a love letter to her city. “It was really wonderful to get to stay home and to get to show the LA that I love in a movie that I made.”
Elijah admits that before this project, he had never been to LA before, so this was his first experience. “I was just in the moment. And it was just so beautiful. It’s actually everything that I ever thought it would be. And the fact that I got to work here was even better.”
For Grace, she was excited to get to work in LA because she could explore during her time off. She admits for her whole life she has always been go, go, go. So even when visiting LA in the past, she didn’t get the time to explore and take it in. She says she found some really cool places.
Judy Greer Confessions
Judy Greer joins the cast in Hollywood Stargirl and she admits that she didn’t watch the first movie until she was offered this role. “My husband and I watched it and just were like, crying and laughing and we loved it and it had such a warm heart.”
After watching the movie she had a Zoom meeting with Julia, and fell in love with her. At this point during the pandemic, she just needed to get out of her house. To see people and be around people that had really big hearts. She says she got more than that with this group.
When asked about learning from Stargirl, Judy admits that Stargirl’s optimism is really infectious. “You can’t drive home from work when you’re making this movie and feel down at all ’cause she sees the world in a different way. Which was something that really sucked me in from the first movie, was the way Stargirl just takes in information and spits out happiness and love and positivity.”
Judy also confesses that she tried to steal her entire wardrobe — and gives major props to the costume designer Natalie O’Brien.
Meeting In Person Was Awkward At First
Grace VanderWaal, Elijah Richardson, and Tyrel Jackson Williams spend a lot of time together in this movie, but it was a bit awkward when they first met in person. They all had been meeting in Zoom rooms, but to come together was a bit strange at the start. With a pandemic going on to be talking to people in person is one thing, but especially when filming without masks — it just took a little bit of getting used to.
“I can see your whole body now and you don’t have mask on and it’s a little scary. But after a while we were just like, oh, yeah, this is what it’s like to like interact with people again.” Tyrel laughs.
Grace VanderWaal Wrote An Original Song For This Film
While Grace did write an original song for the first film, it wasn’t a planned thing, it just sort of happened. But for Hollywood Stargirl, she was tasked with writing a song from the start. Grace jokes that it felt like an assignment because she had never been asked to write anything about anything before.
She was really nervous because she realized that everyone thought she could do this, and since she had never done it before she wasn’t as confident. However, it all worked out. “I did it. And it was easy. But yeah, it was really, really fun. I was so honored that I got to write a song for the movie again. ‘Cause I love writing and I love the movie and it was fun.”
Writing An Original Story
The first Stargirl movie was heavily based on the book that inspired it, and while there is a sequel to the book titled Love, Hollywood Stargirl does not follow that story. So when asked about writing an original story for Stargirl, Julia says it was really exciting for her to get to do.
“I was excited about taking her out of Mica and into a larger world. To show her journey on a grander scale. Grace and I had a lot of fun in the development process of the sequel. Grace was 14 when we made the first movie, and she was 17 when we made this one. That’s a huge difference. We really wanted to honor both Grace’s growth as a young woman and also Stargirl’s — how they’re different and how they’re similar. The most exciting thing for me about making the sequel and the most important thing to me was that the movie be from Stargirl’s perspective. Because the first movie and the first book is obviously from Leo’s perspective and it’s how he sees Stargirl. And so it was really exciting to just get to have a whole movie through her eyes and her mind.” – Julia Hart (Director / Screenwriter)
Hollywood Stargirl comes to Disney+ on June 3rd and you don’t want to miss it!
NEXT: Grace VanderWaal & Hollywood Stargirl Cast Talk Working With Legends
About Hollywood Stargirl
Disney’s “Hollywood Stargirl” is a sequel to the 2020 Disney+ film about free spirit Stargirl Caraway (Grace VanderWaal), a silver-voiced teenager whose simple acts of kindness work magic in the lives of others. The upcoming film follows Stargirl’s journey out of Mica, Arizona and into a bigger world of music, dreams and possibilities.
When her mother Ana (Judy Greer) is hired as the costume designer on a movie, they relocate to L.A., where Stargirl quickly becomes involved with an eclectic assortment of characters. They include aspiring filmmaking brothers Evan (Elijah Richardson) and Terrell (Tyrel Jackson Williams); Mr. Mitchell (Judd Hirsch), one of Stargirl’s neighbors; and Roxanne Martel (Uma Thurman), a musician Stargirl admires and encounters on her journey.
Returning as Stargirl, VanderWaal performs the original song “Figure It Out” she wrote for the film. Julia Hart returns to direct. Hart & Jordan Horowitz wrote the original script, based on the original character from Jerry Spinelli’s best-selling book Stargirl. Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, p.g.a. (“The Maze Runner” trilogy), Lee Stollman, p.g.a.(“All Together Now”) and Jordan Horowitz, p.g.a. (“La La Land”) are the producers, with Kristin Hahn, Nathan Kelly and Jerry Spinelli serving as executive producers.
Hollywood Stargirl comes exclusively to Disney+ on June 3rd.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.