The soundtrack to “Julie and the Phantoms” has earned a top spot on the iTunes chart since its release, something that amuses the titular “Phantoms” members, played by Charlie Gillespie, Jeremy…
The soundtrack to “Julie and the Phantoms” has earned a top spot on the iTunes chart since its release, something that amuses the titular “Phantoms” members, played by Charlie Gillespie, Jeremy Shada and Owen Patrick Joyner. Along with star Madison Reyes, the cast members of the Netflix show endured a “band bootcamp” ahead of shooting, where they rehearsed their instruments and practiced singing and dancing. The show centers on Julie (Reyes), a teenager who forms a band with the ghosts of a ’90s-era pop rock band.
And at this point, the cast members actually feel like one.
“That’s the genius of [director Kenny Ortega] and putting us through a two-month band boot camp where we really became a band before we had ever shot anything,” Shada tells Variety. “It’s weird — I feel like the lines between being a TV show and a band are so blurred at this point.”
Gillespie adds that while he thinks Shada was most prepared for bootcamp (because of Shada’s experience as a musician in a punk rock band), Joyner was most improved. “I mean if we’re talking just dance, then we’d probably have to say Owen,” Gillespie says.
Joyner, who plays Alex, put those skills on display in a dance scene with the Phantoms’ rival group Dirty Candy on the show, a routine he says was inspired by his spontaneous dancing during bootcamp.
“Kenny pulled me aside and goes, ‘That was amazing.’ He goes, ‘You’re in a scene together, and you’re dancing!’ And then he left and I was like, ‘Oh, what did I do?'” Joyner recalls.
Watch more with the stars of “Julie and the Phantoms” above.