In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Jason Derulo said he believed the universally-panned flick directed by Tom Hooper “checked all the boxes” when it came to choosing his “perfect” first feature.
“For the longest time, I was trying to figure out what’s the perfect first role. Cats checked all the boxes,” the 30-year-old said of the adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
“You can’t get a more star-studded cast, you don’t get a more respected director than an Oscar winner, and Rum Tum Tugger is a legacy role, a standout character in a classic musical,” he said.
“Even when I saw the trailer, I thought it looked unbelievable. Like, I know some people saw it and they were terrified, but I got chills down my spine! I thought it was gonna change the world.”
Despite the Hollywood heavyweights among the cast – including Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden, Rebel Wilson and Idris Elba – the film received universally scathing reviews from critics, mostly due to the unsightly use of visual effects.
“Oh God, my eyes,” Ty Burr, a writer for the Boston Globe, wrote in his review.
“You’ve heard of the ‘uncanny valley’ effect?” The eeriness or revulsion felt when looking at a humanoid figure that’s not quite human? The digital era has given us many examples of the uncanny valley, but Cats is the first movie to entirely set up shop there.”
Despite this, Jason Derulo has continually shrugged off criticism of his film debut, saying, “You can’t wait for the perfect moment, cause that might not be your moment. So you’ve just got to go for gold. That’s how I’ll move forward.”
It’s not the first time the “Take You Dancing” singer has defended the movie.
In an interview with TMZ in December, he said: “At the end of the day, the people are going to go see it, there’s going to be a deportation to another dimension. When it came out on Broadway, it was the same thing, people were like, ‘What is this, this is something totally different’”
