-Thanks for coming on the show.
-Thank you for having me. I love being here.
-Oh, please. I want to congratulate you
on so many things.
I just want to start with "West Side Story" --
uh, you --
-Thank you. -Not too shabby.
You filmed that three years ago? -Yeah, I was 16.
-In New York? -Yeah, it was crazy.
It's kind of a full circle moment
to have it come out now in New York.
It's so cool. I'm so happy to be a part of it.
-Do you remember the audition for that?
-Yeah, I remember auditioning in L.A. and I was thinking like,
"Oh, I'll just go do it,
just because it's a cool experience --
any dancer's dream to audition for "West Side Story."
And then I got there, did the audition.
Went good, but I was like, "That was fun. That was cool."
Didn't hear anything for a little bit
and then flew back to New York, got a callback,
and then walk in and Steven Spielberg's in the room.
I was like, "Oh, cool. So this is, like, the final audition."
-Yeah. -Like, "I made it this far."
-You're like, are you the real Steven Spielberg?
-Yeah. -This is cool.
-I was like, "Cool, OK, this is fun."
Also, I was, like, one of the youngest ones,
so I was just kind of, like, trying to soak it all in.
And then some time passed again,
and my agent called me on, like, around Thanksgiving,
or maybe it was Thanksgiving Day, and was, like,
"Yeah, so, like, we actually heard back
from 'West Side Story,'" like, "I'm really sorry,
you got the part." And I was, like... [ screams ]
-Oh, yeah. Hey, oh, heart attack.
-I literally had a heart attack. -Yeah.
-I was like, "Cool, thank you,
but also, I'm kind of, like, traumatized."
-Don't ever do that again, yeah.
-And then I was, like, "Oh, I'm going to prank my mom now
and do the same exact thing."
Because I like, "This is actually kind of funny."
-[ Laughs ] -So then --
-So then I did it exactly to my mom.
-Yeah, just told your mom you had bad news.
-And she was, like, tears. So yeah, it was fun.
-Well, here's a picture of you and Steven on set.
I will say, the choreography on this movie,
it's the most insane thing...
-Justin Peck is a genius.
-I've ever seen in my life.
I go, I -- It almost looks like it's the same person 400 times.
-Everyone is so synchronized,
but has their own, like, special --
-Different colors and their own special thing.
And it's like it's -- it's amazing.
-Totally. -You go, "What, that's not CGI?"
-Oh, definitely not. Every dancer was, like,
so hardworking and so incredible and so talented.
So it was just cool to be a part of it.
Do the -- I know the actors, too.
I mean, do you get nervous when you're having to act
in front of Steven Spielberg and dance?
-Oh, my God, are you kidding? I --
I was having a heart attack the whole time.
-Yeah, you're, like, "Can you please leave?"
-Yeah. [ Laughs ]
-Do you mind just, like, taking five over there?
-Please leave, Steven, thanks.
We'll take it from here. I know it's your movie,
but yeah, I don't want to do it in front of you.
-Thanks for letting us be here, though.
-I appreciate it. -Yeah.
-Uh, love "Jaws." Yeah.
[ Laughter ]
-Literally. -Yeah, right?
-No, it was -- he actually made it
such an amazing environment.
He was just as excited as we all were,
like, literally watching the monitor,
jumping up and down, so excited.
Like, it was his baby, and I'm just so happy that he,
like, absolutely loved every bit of the experience as well.
-That's pretty cool.
Did he want you to sing in the movie?
-Um, I don't sing.
That's like a very known thing, I think.
-Why? -I -- You know...
I've learned -- I've come to the conclusion
that it's OK to not be good at everything.
[ Laughter ]
And I've -- I've settled on,
"I'm not tone deaf, and that's all that matters."
-OK. All right. Well, yeah, but --
your boyfriend, though, Eddie Benjamin needs --
-He's here. -He's here tonight.
Yeah, he's backstage. But he's -- he's a great singer.
I mean, but -- -He's amazing.
I will not sing in front of him.
Don't even ask me. I never will.
-He's like Spielberg?
You're going to go "Get out of the room?"
-Yeah, literally. -I want to sing this song.
-But no, he doesn't. He doesn't go, "Hey, just come on.
Let's just do this one song together or something."
-Uh, you know, he's like, "I could teach you.
I could -- like, I know you're going to have to
do a role one day where you're going to have to sing."
I'm, like, "No, I'll probably have to turn it down
because that's how bad it is."
-No, there's no way. -No, but he's there in case,
you know, one day maybe --
-Training. -Yeah.
-He's going on tour with Justin Bieber.
-Yes, he is. -Now, this is a big deal.
-A huge deal. -Yeah.
-I mean, obviously, I was, like, the biggest Justin Bieber fan
when I was younger. I mean, everyone was, like --
-Hello, I'm the biggest -- yeah. -Yeah, of course.
-I was a Belieber since day 1. -I was a Belieber, yeah.
-Totally. -Yeah.
Yeah, so it's, like, a very full-circle moment.
I actually met him when I was, like, 8 years old
with my dance group, which is so weird.
We were like beside ourselves. It was the coolest.
-What was he like?
-I -- I actually don't even remember. I was star-struck.
-Really? -Yeah, totally.
-Like... [stammers]
-I don't even -- I think it happened so quickly.
We were just all crying, and then that was it.
So, yeah. He was really cute, though.
-Oh, yeah, he's a good guy. Are you going to go on tour?
-Oh, definitely. I definitely would love to see Justin,
of course, but I cannot wait to watch Eddie perform.
-That's what I'm talking about. -I'm so excited.
-I'm going to be, like, the groupie,
just, like, following along everywhere.
-I love you! -Yeah.
-No, I really do. We love each other.
-Yes. [ Laughs ] -Hiya.
I'm like, "That's my boyfriend!"
-That's my boyfriend! -Yeah.
I want to talk about "The Fallout."
-Yes. -Congratulations on this.
-Thank you. -Rave reviews.
It won the Grand Jury Prize.
-Thank you.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Won the Grand Jury Prize for best film at SXSW.
-So crazy. -It's massive.
-It's -- [stammers]
-It's a beautiful movie. Can you explain
what "The Fallout" is about?
-Yeah. "The Fallout" is a coming-of-age story
about high schoolers who share a unique bond,
and they're kind of navigating love and self-discovery
and healing, kind of in the aftermath of a tragedy
that happens at the school.
-Yeah. -So yeah, it's --
it's a heavy one, for sure.
-And is it true that I heard that you improvised some scenes?
-Yeah, a lot of the time,
Megan -- the director and writer, she's incredible,
and she was an actor previously, so she definitely, like,
just let us do our thing, which was amazing.
And at the end of each scene, she'd be, like,
"Let's just do a fun run. You guys do whatever you want."
And a lot of those scenes ended up making the movie
just because... -It makes it so real.
And it's really -- it's great.
-Thank you. -Great performance. Congrats.
I want to show everyone a clip.
Here's Maddie Ziegler in "The Fallout."
Take a look at this.
[ Laughter ]
-You're, like, yodeling.
-You probably don't know this about me,
but I'm the best yodeler in my family.
-Prove it. -But --
You can't put me on the spot like that,
'cause then that's just, like, you know --
-This is, like, the little preview.
-Yeah, this is, like, warm up. -OK.
-You know, but I'm going to get you when you're not even ready,
and you're going to be, like... [gasps dramatically]
[ Laughter ]
-Hey, you know, this might sound weird because, like,
I haven't known you for that long,
but, like, I feel so comfortable with you.
Like, we're bonded or something.
-Same.
-Maddie Ziegler, everybody.
"The Fallout" premiers January 27th on HBO Max.