All Together Now is a story of finding hope, even in the darkest of times. Rhenzy Feliz stars as Ty in the Netflix film, alongside Auli’i Cravalho’s Amber. Ty and Amber have a very close friendship, and Ty never hesitates to try and help Amber when she needs it. The film features some great musical moments, including a gorgeous song performed by Auli’i and Rhenzy.
HollywoodLife talked EXCLUSIVELY with Rhenzy about the “draw” of All Together Now. He discussed Ty and Amber’s “interesting” dynamic and didn’t shy away from the fact that Ty is in love with Amber. Rhenzy also opened up about learning to play piano for the movie and how he got a front-row seat to Auli’i’s “world-class” singing.
What drew you to this project and the character of Ty?
Rhenzy Feliz: I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Brett Haley was directing it. The kind of films that he makes, they’re really grounded and have a lot of hope. Netflix making it as well was a huge draw. They make some really, really beautiful things. Getting to talk to him and see his passion for the project and creating the sort of vision that he had in mind really got me on board. I love the story as well. It’s a beautiful story about people, specifically Amber, and how hard it is to accept help and how life isn’t necessarily easy for anyone, especially for her in this story, but you have to learn or at least try to lean on people. It’s a beautiful thing to watch.
This movie is actually based on Matthew Quick’s book, Sorta Like A Rock Star. Had you read his book?
Rhenzy Feliz: I had asked Brett right after I got cast if I should read the book just to sort of get some better insight into my character. He told me that in the book, Ty didn’t really have a significant part at all. He said it wouldn’t help you with anything about the character and don’t worry about it on this one. But he did say if I wanted to I could go ahead, but that it wouldn’t necessarily help me from a character standpoint. I sort of let that be. But I think there was a quote from the book someone told me about that said, “Amber describes Ty as the Michelangelo of people. That, to me, showed me what this guy was deep down. He’s just like this amazing, great human being.
Ty and Amber are obviously really good friends in the movie. What is their dynamic like?
Rhenzy Feliz: It’s interesting. It even starts on an interesting note. I think with a lot of stories they start with the meeting, they’re going through it, there’s some hardship in the middle, and then they get together at the end. This one sort of follows its own story because it’s not really about their relationship. It’s more about Amber and the difficult time she’s going through, Ty being there for her just as a friend. In the beginning, I think he’s in love with this girl, and not even necessarily that way. Yes, in a relationship way, but I think Ty loves her so much as a human being that he’s willing to do anything to help her. It’s a very interesting dynamic that they have because it’s more than just “I find her really cute I want to make my girlfriend” and vice versa. It’s more down to the core of who these people are, and they have a lot of love for each other.
You play the piano in the movie. What is your background with music?
Rhenzy Feliz: They asked me if I could play guitar, so I sent in a video of me playing guitar. I can play a little bit. Ever since A Star Is Born came out, I started learning how to play guitar because I fell in love with Bradley Cooper in the movie. I needed to be as close to this guy as I can be, and I started playing guitar myself. I sent in a little video, but then they ended up changing the script to me playing the piano. They sent over someone to teach me. I ended up learning the song and getting to play it on the day. It all kind of worked out. It was a long process to get to learn that song, a lot of ripping my hair out. But by maybe a week before we shot it, I ended up being able to play it flawlessly. That was my goal.
What was it like working with Auli’i, especially on that one song?
Rhenzy Feliz: I was very lucky. Auli’i and I were there for the entirety of the movie. It was about a month and a half, almost two months. We were staying in the same place, so after work, we’d always hang out. I would play guitar, and she would sing. Just hanging out I got to hear her sing for hours and hours every single day. It was my mediocre guitar playing with her world-class singing. It was an odd pairing, but I wasn’t complaining at all. It was really nice getting to work with her because we both knew this was our first live-action movie. She had done Moana, but she’s never done a live-action movie. It was a really cool experience to get to work on this thing together. We became really close, especially because we were the only ones out all the time. I think it really helped us on set to be comfortable with each other.
Comedy greats Carol Burnett and Fred Armisen are in this as well. What was it like to go toe-to-toe with them?
Rhenzy Feliz: That was amazing. It was so much fun. There was one scene when he comes into the drama class at the beginning of the movie. We’re just looking at his shirt and stuff, and every single take he’d do something different. We just got to play around with him, which I can’t even explain how amazing that was. I loved every second of it.