Hope and love abound
WITH the coronavirus siphoning the joy out of 2020, a film like Jingle Jangle: A Musical Journey is a welcome arrival. More so when you have a cast that includes Forest Whitaker, Anika Noni Rose, Phylicia Rashad, Keegan-Michael Key, Hugh Bonneville, Ricky Martin and child Broadway star Madalen Mills, who makes her film debut.
I was fortunate enough to get to interview Mills, Noni Rose and Rashad in a recent virtual press junket.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Noni Rose at MIPTV in Cannes, a few years ago. It was for the miniseries, Roots, which aired on the History channel.
Her thoughtful responses during this chat blew me away, as she did back then.
And Mills is not just adorable on and off camera, she has that powerful star quality that hints at a spectacular career in showbiz.
Rashad, defying gravity with her youthful appearance, continues to exude grace as an industry icon.
It doesn’t often happen that you get to engage with three generations of actors from one movie, so I made the most of my time with them.
Rashad said: “As actors, we could do any number of things with little to no meaning to anybody, so it’s really a gift to be a part of something that’s going to mean a lot. It makes me feel good.”
Of her involvement, Mills shared: “Well, this was my first movie, which was very exciting. Of course, getting to work alongside amazing actors, actresses and singers was nothing short of a blessing. As far as the nerves go, I was a little bit nervous in the beginning because, like I said before, this was my first movie and I didn’t know how it was going to work.”
Once she got to the set and learnt how the process worked, those nerves faded.
“Also, I got to learn from Ms Phylicia Rashad, Ms Anika Noni Rose and Mr Forest Whitaker just by observing them, so it was definitely a great learning experience.”
The movie centres on Jeronicus Jangle (Whitaker). Once a successful toymaker, he falls upon hard times after his apprentice steals one of his biggest inventions, along with his book of ideas. Disillusioned for years, the arrival of his granddaughter, Journey,
