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<ul class="summary-list"><li>"<keyword id="14262692" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cha-cha-real-smooth" source="Orion">Cha Cha Real Smooth</keyword>" is a coming-of-age film starring <keyword id="12037027" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="dakota-johnson" source="Orion">Dakota Johnson</keyword> and <keyword id="14290298" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cooper-raiff" source="Orion">Cooper Raiff</keyword>.</li><li>Insider spoke with Johnson and Raiff about the <keyword id="11897475" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie" source="Orion">movie</keyword>, which hit Apple TV+ on June 17.</li></ul>"Cha Cha Real Smooth" takes its name from the most iconic part of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI64R1bjN7U">DJ Casper's "Cha Cha Slide,"</a> an essential track in the party canon that's all but guaranteed to bring anyone who can follow directions to the dance floor.It's fitting that getting people on the floor is the primary job of the film's protagonist Andrew, played by 25-year-old writer-director-producer Cooper Raiff.Twenty-two years old and fresh out of college, Andrew takes a job as a "party starter," working the local New Jersey bat and bar mitzvah circuit while he attempts to figure out what to do with his life. After meeting Domino (Dakota Johnson), the mother of autistic teen <a href="https://www.insider.com/cha-cha-real-smooth-vanessa-burghardt-authentic-autistic-representation-interview-2022-6">Lola (newcomer Vanessa Burghardt)</a>, Andrew seemingly attempts to find himself through his relationship with them. "Cha Cha Real Smooth" premiered in January at Sundance and <a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/news/apple-cha-cha-real-smooth-sundance-cooper-raiff-dakota-johnson-1235163370/">sold to Apple for $15 million</a> after a competitive bidding war among distributors including Netflix and Amazon Studios. Produced by Dakota Johnson and her producing partner Ro Donnelly's TeaTime Pictures, it's Raiff's second feature after his 2020 film "Shithouse." After a run at the <keyword id="14188292" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tribeca-film-festival" source="Orion">Tribeca Film Festival</keyword> in New York earlier this month, "Cha Cha Real Smooth" hit Apple TV+ on June 17.Insider spoke with Johnson and Raiff about producing the coming-of-age film, including Raiff's reaction to meeting Johnson in person the first time and the movie's defining shot. Warning: Light spoilers ahead for "Cha Cha Real Smooth."Dakota, you produced this film in addition to starring in it. What about "Cha Cha Real Smooth" and working with Cooper as a producer really appealed to you from the get-go?Dakota Johnson: I really appreciate the art of collaboration. I like to champion people and their ideas, like Cooper. And I really love being involved in making a movie from the very beginning to the very last breath. So I think "Cha Cha" just happened kinda organically — Cooper Raiff: I came to you on my knees. I said, "Please make a movie with me."Johnson: Yeah, pretty much. He told me I was his favorite actress. And then we cast Leslie Mann in our movie and he told her that she was his favorite actress.Raiff: That's not true. Johnson: Yeah it is, it's on camera.Raiff: I said one time, I was like, "Yeah, she's my favorite actress." And then everyone just decided to really run with it.Johnson: That's how he gets all the girls in those movies. Cooper, you originally pitched Dakota's producing partner Ro Donnelly on this as a concept, right? And then had to write an actual script in about a week. What was that process like?Raiff: So I pitched an idea to Ro, and then Ro told Dakota something like…Johnson: "I met this idiot."Raiff: "I met this idiot. You gotta meet him, see what an idiot he is." And then I told them in the meeting with all three of us that I had a script.Johnson: No, you didn't.Raiff: Yeah, I told you guys, I was like, "I have something that I'm working on." You were like, "Okay, great, let's see."Johnson: No, you did not. Raiff: I was gonna go away and write something. I remember I gave you 50 pages. Johnson: Yeah, but when we met, you didn't have something. You had an idea. Raiff: I didn't have anything. Maybe you guys knew that I didn't have an idea.Johnson: He just said he had something. You're lying. Raiff: No no, I didn't have an idea, but I had told you guys, I'd made it seem like I did have something. Remember, I sent you like 50 pages and I was like, "I don't think the rest is good." But I didn't have the rest. Johnson: You're conflating the truth. Raiff: But I did go away and I wrote 50 pages in one week and then I sent that to them. And then the next week after I wrote the next 50 of whatever pages, and I sent that to them. So I really wrote the script, the first draft of the script, in two weeks. It had a lot of work to be done.Johnson: Then we worked on it for like eight months. After going through that whole process of pitching and starting to collaborate, what was it actually like to meet in person for the first time?Raiff: We met on Zoom, it was really nice and lovely. And then we met in person and I looked like an idiot. Johnson: Why?Raiff: When I first met you, I acted super weird, do you remember that? You do remember, 'cause you described it as, it looked like I had never seen a human being before. So I met her in person and I immediately said something like, "I have to go to the bathroom." And everyone was like, "OK." And I looked in the mirror and I was like, "Pull yourself together."It was also right out of COVID and I wasn't seeing a lot of people in person, right? And Dakota is really pretty. <div type="image" title="Cooper Raiff in “Cha Cha Real Smooth&quot;" height="2160" width="2880" msid="92464139" hostid="261" sizebytes="249460"></div>Dakota, I also understand that you played a role in convincing Cooper to star in this film as well, and obviously you've collaborated across the course of this entire production both on and off screen. Was there any wisdom that you passed down to Cooper?Raiff: Lots of wisdom exchanged.Johnson: He's so wise. I think from his first experience to his second experience, directing was very different. And perhaps he didn't have people around him on the first one that really could have his back when he was on camera. And we really did when he was on "Cha Cha." Also, you like, fully wrote Andrew for yourself.Raiff: I did not, but it's... I'm not a good writer. So when I write a 22-year-old, it sounds just like me and it's the same sense of humor. Who else is going to have this dumb sense of humor? But I always like to write something and then someone comes in and really changes it. That's what we did with every other character. But I think Andrew really didn't evolve because I was playing it. He just kinda stayed the same dummy.<a href="https://www.insider.com/cha-cha-real-smooth-vanessa-burghardt-authentic-autistic-representation-interview-2022-6">Vanessa Burghardt is wonderful in this movie</a>, and she's spoken about what it's felt like to play, <a href="https://variety.com/video/cha-cha-real-smooth-cooper-raiff-dakota-johnson/">in her words</a>, an autistic character who's a "fully formed person." What was front of mind for you when it came to writing an autistic character like Lola? Who did you consult with, and what role did Vanessa herself play?Raiff: She played every role in it. What I say is that I don't want to put the onus on her and be like, "Hey, can you write this for me?" But just talking to her, and the same thing with Dakota — having conversations with her and literally writing down what she says in those conversations into the script. And so they inform every part of it. We had consultants at this place called <a href="https://www.respectability.org/about-us/">Respect Ability</a> and they were great to work with, but I had this extreme aversion at first when working with them. I remember we started having these conversations about who's gonna be with the actor who's playing Lola on set, when it comes time. I'm like, "We're gonna ask her and her mom what's gonna happen, and they're gonna tell us." It's so easy to just have that be the intention. And I think there's so much of, "Are we doing things the right way?" Johnson: Just behave like it's all normal, 'cause that's what it is.<div type="image" title="Vanessa Burghardt and Dakota Johnson in “Cha Cha Real Smooth&quot;" height="2029" width="2706" msid="92464140" hostid="261" sizebytes="189932"></div>Dakota, one of your most intimate and tender scenes in this film occurs when Domino has a miscarriage while at a party. What was it like putting that sequence together and navigating that intimacy while shooting it?Johnson: With situations like having a miscarriage, there are infinite possibilities for how someone can feel about that. So I feel like we had the opportunity to let silence speak for itself, to allow someone to have such extremely complicated feelings without having to spoon feed the information to the audience.Raiff: I do remember one thing about that scene, when we were talking about filming it, was you just randomly had this vision of the shot of me on my knees. And that was a moment that really defines that scene. When I open the door, I'm just looking at her. It's important to take your time. I remember that moment. That was just a really nice tableau. Johnson: We were trying to shoot it at the end of the day really quickly. And they had already set up the rig in the bathroom stall and the side that they set it up on, the door swung open. And I was like, "No, we have to have the door swing inward because he has to lean on it so that it opens, like otherwise he would have opened the door and it wouldn't have worked." So we didn't get to it that day. But it was absolutely vital that the door swung. Then we tried to undo the door and re-rig it so that it swung a different way, but it wasn't gonna work. Raiff: It's the defining shot in my mind of the movie. Just like a kid realizing in the moment, this is not at all what I thought it was, with just the widest eyes. And then just growing up so much in just one second. And I think that is the plot of the movie. This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length."Cha Cha Real Smooth" is now <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftv.apple.com%2Fus%2Fmovie%2Fcha-cha-real-smooth%2Fumc.cmc.6loo9fah7vwj2zpp7ehactlpd&amp;amazonTrackingID=null&amp;site=in&amp;vikingID=62b277ce0f65d874ce15ae66&amp;platform=browser&amp;sc=false&amp;disabled=false&amp;sessionID=1656105995420cqwaoxfh" rel="nofollow sponsored noindex">available on Apple TV+</a> and in theaters.

'Cha Cha Real Smooth' director Cooper Raiff says he looked like an 'idiot' the first time he met Dakota Johnson in person

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Vanessa Burghardt is the breakout star of "<keyword id="14262692" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cha-cha-real-smooth" source="Orion">Cha Cha Real Smooth</keyword>," starring <keyword id="12037027" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="dakota-johnson" source="Orion">Dakota Johnson</keyword> and Cooper Raiff, who also wrote and directed.</li><li>Burghardt, an autistic actor, portrays Lola, the autistic daughter of Johnson's character.</li></ul>If Apple TV+ has its way, "Cha Cha Real Smooth" could follow the path set by last year's "CODA."<a href="https://www.insider.com/oscars-best-picture-2022-coda-wins-apple-first-streamer-2022-3">Like the 2022 best picture winner</a>, "Cha Cha Real Smooth" was a feel-good highlight of the <keyword id="12109384" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sundance-film-festival" source="Orion">Sundance Film Festival</keyword>, winning the audience award in the US Dramatic Competition category. Apple bid millions for it and is now giving it a simultaneous theatrical and streaming summer release, with hopes that <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cha_cha_real_smooth">great reviews</a> and overall likability will keep it in the conversation come awards season."Cha Cha Real Smooth" has something else in common with "CODA": Both films did the highly appreciated yet still pretty rare thing of actually casting disabled actors to play disabled characters.The deaf family at the heart of "CODA" included Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin and stage stars Daniel Durant and Troy Kotsur. <a href="https://www.insider.com/troy-kotsur-coda-oscar-win-announced-sign-language-2022-3">Kotsur went on to win the best supporting actor Oscar</a> for his hilarious performance as the film's Masshole patriarch, making history as the first deaf man to win in an acting category."Cha Cha Real Smooth" cast unknown actress Vanessa Burghardt to play Lola, the introverted autistic teenager whom the film's protagonist Andrew (Cooper Raiff) babysits while trying to woo her anxious single mother, Domino (<a href="https://www.insider.com/dakota-johnson-met-gala-looks-ranked-2022-5">Dakota Johnson</a>). Burghardt, like her character, is autistic.<h2>Burghardt brought much needed authenticity to the role</h2><div type="image" title="Vanessa Burghardt and Dakota Johnson in “Cha Cha Real Smooth&quot;" height="2029" width="2706" msid="92389072" hostid="261"></div>As an autistic film critic, I was excited if somewhat cautious about "Cha Cha Real Smooth" back at Sundance in January, but I left the film impressed.Raiff, who wrote, directed, and starred in the film, has a lot of smart things to say about relationships and growing up, and he gets great performances from everyone involved. I was particularly impressed with Burghardt, whose character could have easily been a stereotype, but thanks to great writing and acting instead comes across as a real and convincing person.Speaking with Burghardt ahead of the film's theatrical and streaming release on June 17, she explained how she helped build the character of Lola. Raiff consulted with the organization <a href="https://www.respectability.org/about-us/">Respect Ability</a>, a nonprofit that promotes empowerment and self-advocacy for disabled individuals, while writing the initial script, but Burghardt was the main autistic voice in the production once she got the role.She told Insider that she and the director had "a lot of conversations about Lola's character, about how she feels in social situations or what kind of response she might have to her mom.""We really did change a lot of the script when we started talking," Burghardt added.The actress pointed to one specific example of a detail that was added to the film directly from a conversation she had with Raiff. "There was a scene that we were doing in my room and I was supposed to kind of just be there with the lights off just kind of relaxing," Burghardt said. "And I ended up doing this thing where I flap my hands because I do that a lot.""It's something I do to regulate, and I felt like Lola as an autistic character probably does something like that, and Cooper was fine with it so it made it into the <keyword id="11897475" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie" source="Orion">movie</keyword>," she continued.Burghardt brought a lot of herself to the role of Lola. When asked her biggest similarities with her character, she answered, "Lola and I are very similar in the way that we care about people but kind of express it in a different way and want to be social but don't really know how to initiate it."The biggest differences between the two are ones of maturity; Lola is around 14 or 15 (her specific age isn't stated, but she's attending bar and bat mitzvahs with 12- and 13-year-olds and is said to have been held back a couple grades), and while Burghardt was even more like Lola at that age, now she says, "I'm older than Lola, so I think I'm a little bit more socially mature and a little less rigid than her."<div type="image" title="cha cha real smooth" height="1074" width="1434" msid="92389075" hostid="261"></div>It's important to note that, while Lola is a well-developed character, she is not the film's main character. "Cha Cha Real Smooth" is mostly about Andrew, whose extremely extroverted nature makes a dramatic contrast with Lola's social discomfort, and Domino, who loves her daughter but struggles with depression and often feels overwhelmed by her circumstances.If I was to anticipate any criticism of the film coming from neurodiversity-minded circles, it's that it's yet another story where the feelings of an <a href="https://www.insider.com/jwoww-hopes-son-autism-diagnosis-helps-other-families-2022-1">autistic child</a>'s parent/caretaker take greater prominence than the feelings of the autistic child themself.Even with this in mind, however, "Cha Cha Real Smooth" is valuable in offering a much more sensitive and nuanced perspective than most so-called "autism mom" stories, which often center the parent to the detriment of building the child as a wholly realized character. Burghardt said it's one of the things she likes most about the film."It's not talking about how Lola is the burden or the child with the disability is the burden, it's talking about why her mom feels that way, and it's not all because of her," she said. "It kind of took the feeling that the autistic child is the one who's burdening the parent when in reality it's the parent, they have their own things that they're dealing with."<h2>Burghardt believes we have a long way to go in portraying neurodiversity authentically on screen</h2><div type="image" title="“Cha Cha Real Smooth&quot;" height="1599" width="2132" msid="92389076" hostid="261"></div>When asked about the controversial issue of neurotypical actors playing autistic characters, Burghardt is clear she prefers such roles "be reserved for people who have the experience of being neurodiverse, because you're never going to get it completely right if you haven't had that experience." She's similarly passionate about wanting "more open-mindedness" from casting directors about autistic actors to get the chance to play roles not specifically written as <a href="https://www.insider.com/autism-diagnosis-how-to-talk-to-kids-empowering-way-2021-9">autistic</a>."People say that they want to include you and they love diversity," Burghardt told Insider. "But if you're not what they're looking for — maybe the character is neurotypical and you're autistic — and they're not really willing to be flexible and include you in it, then you don't really want diversity."Though "Cha Cha Real Smooth" is her first movie role, Burghardt has experience acting in neurotypical roles on stage. She's not interested in continuing with theater, however, and thinks film acting plays better to her strengths."I'm not someone who is very overt in the way that I express emotion," she explained, "and I feel like in stage acting it can be seen as I'm not doing enough, but in film acting, I'm always doing enough, people just need to look a little bit harder, and I kind of like that."When it comes to neurodiversity on screen, Burghardt wants to see more. She praised the Netflix reality series "Love on the Spectrum," which follows the dating lives of young adults on the autism spectrum, for being "authentic," but overall, she feels there are simply not enough examples of quality autistic representation she can point to. Her presence in "Cha Cha Real Smooth" makes a difference — and will hopefully be the start of a long and successful career."I'd like to continue acting," she said. "I'm auditioning all the time, and I'm really looking forward to finding the right role.""Cha Cha Real Smooth" is now <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftv.apple.com%2Fus%2Fmovie%2Fcha-cha-real-smooth%2Fumc.cmc.6loo9fah7vwj2zpp7ehactlpd">available on Apple TV+</a> and in theaters.

'Cha Cha Real Smooth' breakout star Vanessa Burghardt brings authentic autistic representation to Dakota Johnson's Sundance hit

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'Cha Cha Real Smooth' director Cooper Raiff says he looked like an 'idiot' the first time he met Dakota Johnson in person

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'Cha Cha Real Smooth' breakout star Vanessa Burghardt brings authentic autistic representation to Dakota Johnson's Sundance hit

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