How exactly did Jacob Tremblay land the gig of Justin Bieber in his new music video?
The pint-sized actor portrayed a teenage Bieber in the pop star's latest music video for "Lonely" featuring Benny Blanco.
The actor spoke with ETalk on Friday (October 16) to explain how the opportunity came about. "It definitely feels really weird to say it, because it just sounds like it shouldn’t be happening but, I am in a Justin Bieber music video, which is something I would have never seen coming," he said.
Bieber's team reached out to him to see if he would be interested, then Bieber himself texted him to introduce himself. "I ended up getting a text message from Justin Bieber asking if I had any questions, which I did — I had a lot of questions," he shared. "So we kind of organized that we would call each other some time, but we didn’t really get an exact time, so he ended up calling me when I was in the grocery store… I was like, to my parents, ‘I have to go outside because Justin Bieber’s calling me.'"
Tremblay had an amazing time on the music video set. He got selfies with Hailey Bieber and played ping pong against Blanco.
Tremblay said that Bieber was nothing but kind and helped calm his nerves. "I had actually never played a real person before," he added. "I’ve always played made-up characters, so I just really wanted to make sure that I had the feelings of the song and how Justin wanted me to feel. I really got to understand — it’s a bit more of a serious song but I’m really excited for people to hear it, so they can see the story. It’s really good."
Watch the music video, below.
Prior to the video's premiere, Bieber and Blanco held a live stream where they gushed over Tremblay's portrayal. "The first time I watched him go through the segment… I legitimately lost it," Bieber said of seeing Tremblay act in a scene. "I was tearing up, like completely." Bieber also sang his praises on social media, calling him "so talented."