Rob Lowe, Gillian Jacobs & Will Brill on Their Wild 9/11 Musical Movie | Interview
The Musical stars Rob Lowe, Gillian Jacobs, and Will Brill spoke with ComingSoon about their outrageous new comedy movie. The trio discussed their characters, the core conceit of a school putting on a 9/11 musical, and more. The hilarious film is out in theaters on September 18, 2026.
“Convinced he’s a big fish stuck in a small pond, playwright Doug Leibowitz has been marking time as a theater teacher until he can get himself to New York, where the serious playwrights live. But when an unexpected breakup shocks him, and then he finds out that his ex has been dating the person he hates most in the world, the school principal, his plans turn from purely self-interested…to diabolical. With the coveted Blue Ribbon award just within Principal Brady’s grasp and the principal on high alert, Doug secretly has his middle schoolers rehearse and then perform a play so inappropriate, the only result could be the ruin of Principal Brady’s reputation,” says the official synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Will, your character winds up doing a school play about 9/11. I assume you saw the viral cheerleader routine that similarly recreates it. What did you like about this absurdity of the play and it all coming from your character’s professional and personal spiral?
Will Brill: I mean, I read this script and immediately was like, “I have to do this. I need to do that. I need to play this person,” because I love someone who is flailing on a downward spiral, I think.
He does it with such sort of evil genius majesty. He’s able to pull off such a horrifying thing in the midst of digging a hole deep into the earth. And so I just thought the scope of the movie was so, so fun. It really spoke to me.
Rob, I love your character. You’re the school principal. There’s a fun kind of HR way to how he interacts with everyone. People are charmed, but they’re also like, “Is this person really human?” What did you really hone in on for your performance here?
Rob Lowe: I love your description of an HR way. That’s really great. That’s really, really—I wish I thought of it. F—. Super funny.
What I had in my mind was someone who fancies themselves as potentially the next great leader of California. Like he could parlay this, if he plays his cards right, into being the next Gavin Newsom.
And for me, when I found my Hoka, big white Hoka shoes and my water bottle, that was the other added key of suburban dad that kind of put it all together. But I was just thrilled to be a part of such an audacious movie, a movie that truly you can say with a straight face and know you’re correct: you’ve never seen anything like this.
Tyler Treese: Gillian, in The Musical, you’re in a bit of a workplace love triangle. What really interested you about this woman with really good intentions — she’s genuinely trying to help the kids — and you’re just placed in the middle of this chaos. What did you like about that part of the film?
Gillian Jacobs: Yeah, that’s not normally the type of part that I play. I’m usually the person causing the chaos. So it was nice to be on the other side of it.
Obviously, I got to read the script. I got to meet the director, Giselle, who I think is so impressive, and you can see it in the filmmaking of this. And these two gentlemen were already attached by the time I read it. So I just wanted to be a part of it.
And it was fun. I mean, it was fun to just be in scenes with these two guys. Both characters are both outrageous and also sympathetic. And that’s what I love about this film. I found empathy and sympathy for everybody as we were making it.
Will, you get some really good freak-out moments in this film. There’s one part where you just storm in and scream at Rob, which is a real highlight. How was it just embracing the madness and this journey that the character is on?
Will Brill: It’s so fun. I think we all would say that one of the great joys of being an actor is being given a long leash and a wide playpen to really throw a lot of mud around.
But yeah, sometimes it’s intimidating to have to run into a room and scream in America’s sweetheart Rob Lowe’s face. But also, it’s very intimidating to have to scream at 10-12-year-olds. It makes you feel all kinds of ways about yourself.
But that said, the highs and the lows were extraordinary on this thing. It was really a blast.
Rob, there’s been talk of a St. Elmo’s Fire sequel. I think that’s such a fun movie, but your character’s inability to really move on and mature is his arc throughout that film. So how has it been thinking about where that Billy would be 40 years later? We don’t see reprisals like that very often.
Rob Lowe: Yeah, I’m super excited about it. We’re trying to get the script right. I think the notion of exploring life at this age is arguably even more interesting than exploring life post-college.
I do think last time you saw my character, he had a saxophone across his back, getting on a bus to go to New York. And I think he had the misfortune of arriving in New York at the exact same moment that sax solos were banned.
I think his claim to fame is probably that he played the sax solo on “Caribbean Queen.” I think that was it. He got that sax solo in, and then that was the end.
Thanks to Rob Lowe, Gillian Jacobs, and Will Brill for taking the time to talk about The Musical.
Source: Comingsoon.net