Summary

• Dandelion, a singer-songwriter, finds her voice in a man's world with the help of guitarist Casey in this soulful film.
• KiKi Layne and Thomas Doherty share their musical talents in a deeply personal exploration of the singer-songwriter journey.
• Dandelion delves into the struggle of artists to stay true to their craft, highlighting the passion and heartbreak of creative expression.

A singer-songwriter struggles to find her voice in Dandelion, a film that recently made its debut at the 2024 South By Southwest Festival. Using the film to tell a deeply personal story inspired by her endeavors as a filmmaker, Nicole Riegel presents the tale of a woman living in a man's world and finding a place within it. The Old Guard's KiKi Layne stars and serves as an executive producer on the film, having come to the project early to assist Riegel in the process of writing the songs that she would perform as Dandelion. Her paramour and writing partner in the film is portrayed by The Invitation's Thomas Doherty.

Dandelion is a struggling singer-songwriter on a downward spiral in Cincinnati. At a motorcycle rally in South Dakota that marks her last-ditch effort gig, she meets Casey (Doherty), a guitarist who has given up on his dreams. They are kindred spirits who strike up a romance, and Dandelion ends up joining Casey's small group of nomadic and struggling musicians. Being amongst a group of musicians struggling to find their own path helps Dandelion to a breakthrough, and through a deeper appreciation of her own artistic journey she is able to discover a voice that is authentically her own.

Screen Rant interviewed the stars at the heart of Dandelion, KiKi Layne and Thomas Doherty before their SXSW premiere. The pair discussed their passion for singing, and the golden standard of movies about making music.

Dandelion Was A Whole New Experience For KiKi Layne & Thomas Doherty

Screen Rant: Congrats on this film. It is so sweet and soulful. I really, really dug it. KiKi, I'm a fanboy of If Beale Street Could Talk. That's when we first met, and I've followed the trajectory of your career. I did not know that you could also sing your ass off, so this was a revelation for me. I think it's going to be one for a lot of audiences. Tell us a little bit about your musical background and how exciting it was to tap into that for this role.

KiKi Layne: Honestly, I always wanted to be a singer and an actress when I was growing up. When I was seven years old, I auditioned for the Performing Arts school in Cincinnati, Ohio, as I am also from Cincinnati, Ohio. I didn't get into vocal music, so that was kind of the first moment where I was like, "Maybe singing isn't my thing. Maybe I should focus more on acting."

It's just been a very long journey since then of reconnecting to my voice and finding pride in my voice again. And this film really allowed me to do that.

Thomas, how did you respond the first time you heard KiKi sing? Did you know about her background?

Thomas Doherty: I didn't know. I had a Zoom call with KiKi, meeting each other, "Congrats on the job," and all the rest of it. And she had explained, "This is an amazing opportunity for me to show the world another side of me; another part of my passion." And I was excited.

When we kind of got together to rehearse, I was like, "Oh, I've got to step up my game."

We have seen you flex your musicality in projects before, but never do a music-based project like this. What did you like about getting to play a musician and getting to tap into that duality?

Thomas Doherty: Oh, it was amazing. It was fantastic. I went to college and did musical theater, and I always feel like musical theater is just the pinnacle of everything. I know millions of people disagree with me, but I just think the combination of singing, dancing, and acting all in one expression is so powerful if it's done well.

To have the opportunity to sing and to learn and play an instrument, and to do it alongside someone like KiKi, was just incredible. We also worked with the band a lot, and it was incredible. It's an amazing expression. That's what we do as artists; we express [ourselves] through different mediums. Singing and musicality is a major and very powerful one.

KiKi, you are from the 'Natti also. Was this homecoming coincidental? Did you know the filmmaker? Did you guys go to high school together? How were you drawn back to your hometown for this?

KiKi Layne: No, Nicole reached out, and I read this script and thought it was amazing and got excited about the opportunity to tell this story and finally share my singing voice. I think it honestly was so divine that it brought me back home because that's where all of my dreams started.

Growing up I knew I wanted to be a singer and an actress, and then I just moved on to focusing more on acting. I thought it was very divine to be called back home in order to kick off this part of my career where people will know that I do also sing, and I also write music. I got to contribute to the music in the film, which was amazing. It felt very divine.

Thomas, what do you like about discovering these towns like Cincinnati? What was your experience in middle America?

Thomas Doherty: I've only ever done the major cities. I've only done New York, Los Angeles, Miami a bit. Never been here before in Austin. I don't want to make different parts of America sound like some kind of caricature. But truly, when I was in South Dakota, when we were in Kentucky, it was really like a film. You need to remember I'm from Scotland. My impression of America, and these parts of America, is entirely based on cartoons and films.

When I'm in Kentucky and a train is just going through the town? It was very, very surreal to be in these places. It was really, really cool. And I really did love it. I loved Covington. I love Cincinnati. I love the Bengals. Not sure about the orange color, but I've come around to it.

Dandelion Speaks To The Heartbreaking Beauty Of An Artist's Creative Drive

What do you guys think are the gold standards for music movies? Who does Dandelion aspire to be in the company of? What are your favorite films about music?

Thomas Doherty: I think Once.

KiKi Layne: Honestly, the first film that popped into my head was Selena. I think that Dandelion stands out though among music films because it's really a songwriter's film. I don't think we really see films that really dig into the process of songwriting.

It's such a personal, creative process. It can be so frustrating. You'll spend hours on a song, get to the end, and you're like, "Well, this is trash." This film really explores that journey and even explores what it means when songwriters come together. Like, how Dandelion's music sounded a little different once she started writing with Casey and all of that. I think that's what's unique about this film.

What do you guys think this film says about the struggle of an artist? What pushes artists to stay with their artistry?

Thomas Doherty: I think there's just an unquenchable desire to just achieve and to continue to create. And you can't dull that flame; it's just there.

It is so heartbreaking, and I've been incredibly lucky, incredibly fortunate as a younger actor to have these opportunities and land on my feet and do very well. But I see so many friends and hundreds of young performers — they're not singer-songwriters, but artists and performances — just plodding on and struggling. And it is heartbreakingly beautiful. It's heartbreaking to see the struggle, but it's also beautiful to see that passion get through and continue and strive. It is almost more powerful than all the doubt and everything.

KiKi Layne: You can't really turn off that creativity. It's a struggle when you are trying to make a life out of something that is so creative and such a part of your spirit because sometimes those things aren't aligned — the creative, artistic desire, and paying your bills. And it's hard.

I think that's one of the beautiful things that this film really explores; that struggle when you do start to feel too old for certain things, and it's like, "Damn, I still have to fight for this." I see 12-year-olds making millions of dollars on YouTube, and I'm like, "What the f--k am I doing?"

I think that's something that people are going to respond to in this film is watching this person. You can feel how much Dandelion loves it. You can feel how much Casey loves creating, loves making music — and it doesn't always put food on the table. And as you get older, you need more stability. You've got to be able to keep the lights on.

Thomas Doherty: You said it so well. You can't turn it off. If it's in you, you can either express it or it'll eat you up inside.

KiKi Layne: Yeah, you're choking on it. It's like you're always one job away, and I think that's what's so frustrating when pursuing, acting, singing, whatever it may be. You just need one person; one shot. I just needed Barry Jenkins to see me and believe in me, and now look at everything else that has happened because of it. Being that close to one life-changing moment is equally exciting and also frustrating as hell as an artist.

Dandelion Stars Tease The Old Guard 2 & Tell Me Lies Season 2

I want to touch on a couple of other projects for a moment. KiKi, The Old Guard was a huge hit for Netflix. We're really excited for part 2. Can you tease it for us?

KiKi Layne: I wish that I could. We did shoot it, and that's all that my pay grade knows about The Old Guard 2.

I respect [Charlize Theron] so much. I mean, that's such a badass woman. She's such a smart producer and incredible actor, and being able to work with her and also Uma Thurman this time around was just mind-blowing. Yes, Uma is in the second one, and I like doing scenes with her.

Just to be in a space with two women who have done what they have done for women in action films is so meaningful. To just learn from them and just get to sit and watch how they carry themselves; how they prepare. I hope there will be more news about The Old Guard 2 soon. [Laughs]

Is Uma going Kill Bill on us? Is she going full action mode?

KiKi Layne: I can't give anything away, but if Uma Thurman is in The Old Guard 2, she's probably kicking ass.

Thomas, you're in Girls 5eva season 3, with more singing. How was that?

Thomas Doherty: Good fun. Worked with some incredible women on that. Yeah, it was amazing. It is something very, very new for me. I've never done comedy, and I've still not seen my episodes, so I'm honestly petrified. But Paula Pell assures me that I did well, so that's good enough for me. But it was amazing.

I'm in the middle of doing Tell Me Lies season 2, so I'm filming that right now in Atlanta. It's all good fun. And we have a film coming out, it's called Dandelion. [Laughs]

Dandelion premiered at SXSW on March 10 and is being distributed by IFC Films.

Source: Screen Rant Plus