The following contains spoilers for Piece by Piece, now playing in theaters
Piece by Pieceis based on the life of Pharrell Williams, and explores the true story of his evolution and growth of the musician. Directed by Academy Award-winning documentarian Morgan Neville,Piece by Pieceis a fairly standard approach to the artist bio-pic.Piece by Piece’s castincludes the musician, his family, and his musical collaborators contributing to the animated film’s recreation of true events.
Piece by Piece’s cast includes some of music’s biggest stars, all reflecting on their interactions with Pharrell. The animated nature of the film allows it to take some specific liberties with true life, reimagining certain events through a more cartoonish style that builds to an emotionalending forPiece by Piece. However, there are also some specific details of Pharrell’s youth and life that are tweaked or underplayed within the movie’s narrative. Here is howPiece by Piececompares to Pharrell’s true life.
Piece By Piece Is A Fairly Accurate Depiction Of Pharrell Williams' Life
Piece By PieceLargely Follows The True Story Behind Pharrell’s Rise To Fame
Piece By Pieceis a fairly truthfulrepresentation of what happened to Pharrell Williamsin his real life.Itfollows a fairly standard documentary narrative, exploring Pharrell’s youth and building to his massive professional success. Few elements of Pharrell’s story seem to have been overly stretched in the actual story. The true exaggeration of the movie is in the presentation, which recreates the stories told by Pharrell and the people within his orbit through LEGO animation. As depicted in the film, Pharrell grew up in Virginia Beach surrounded by other future musician.
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The musician found his calling as he grew older, and was discovered (alongside the rest of the Neptunes) by producer Teddy Riley at a high school talent show — although the film doesn’t spend much time focusing on Pharrell’s brief stint as a student at Northwestern University. The movie leans into the natural comedy and charm that comes as a result of the LEGO animation style, which helps visualize the story in a compelling way. While some details have been left out,Piece by Piececomes across as a fairly realistic story told in a cute, unrealistic manner.
Yes, Pharrell Did Write The McDonald’s “I’m Lovin' It” Jingle
Piece by PiecePoints Out Pharrell Worked For McDonald’s Before That
This is juxtaposed in the film by the humorous revelation that a teenage Pharrell had briefly worked at McDonald’s before getting fired for taking too many chicken nuggets for himself and his friends. Timberlake and the Neptunes even used the jingle as a jumping-off point and created a single based on the slogan. In the years since, Pusha T has claimed he was more heavily involved in the creation of the jingle than most people believe, but this has been contested by others involved in its creation.
Piece By Piece Doesn’t Include All Of Pharrell’s Family
Pharrell’s Brothers Don’t Factor Into The Film
Piece by Pieceisn’t an exhaustive reimagining of Pharrell’s full life, so there are some elements of his story that are left out or underplayed inPiece by Piece. This includes Pharrell’s extended family. Although his parents appear as some of the movie’s talking heads and his grandmother plays a crucial role in inspiring him to pursue music, Pharrell’s other family members aren’t nearly as prominent in the movie.This includes his younger brothers, Cato and Psolomon. This is likely because of the film focuses on Pharrell’s music specifically, as well as the age gap that exists between them.
Pharrell’s Other Children
Children
Another aspect of Pharrell’s life that is kept relatively quiet is his children. While the movie does feature some scenes with an infant version of Pharrell’s son Rocket and the young man has a brief cameo at the end of the film playing himself, Rocket isn’t a big focus of the film.Pharrell and his wife Helen Lasichanh had triplets in 2017, but the celebrity pair have done their best to keep them out of the spotlight as much as possible, to the point where their names are still not widely known.
What Piece By Piece Leaves Out About Pharrell’s True Story
A Major Character FromPiece By PieceIsn’t In Pharrell’s Life Anymore
Other elements of Pharrell’s personal life are largely left out ofPiece by Piece, like his romantic history before his marriage to Lasichanh. Pharrell was romantically attached to singer-songwriter Kelis Rogers in 2001 and in 2003 was briefly confirmed to be dating Jade Jagger, daughter of Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger. In 2004, Pharrell was rumored to be in a relationship with British singer Alesha Dixon, as well as Czech supermodel Karolína Kurková. Pharrell’s longest romance before Lasichanh was with filmmaker Vashtie Kola, with the pair reportedly maintaining a relationship for a few years.
Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo are not currently on speaking terms.
Perhaps the saddest aspect of Pharrell’s personal life cut from the film was the apparent end of Pharrell’s friendship with Neptunes and N.E.R.D. co-founder, Chad Hugo. Hugo plays an important part inPiece by Piece. However,Pharrell and Hugo are not currently on speaking terms. According to an interview with theHollywood Reporter, Hugo is currently suing Pharrell, claiming he’s “monopolized” the Neptunes branding and name. Although Pharrell wishes him well, he reveals the friends are no longer on speaking terms. This falling out isn’t featured in the film
Piece By Piece Avoids Pharrell’s Collaborations With P. Diddy
P. Diddy Worked With Pharrell On Some Songs
Piece by Pieceincludes cameo appearances from several of Pharrell’s former collaborators across the music industry. This gives the film a genuinely stacked cast of guest stars, including Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Kendrick Lamar, Missy Elliot and Timbaland. However, one notable musician Pharrell previously collaborated with who does not appear in the film (or get mentioned much at all) is P. Diddy. A major figure in the music scene in the era when Pharrell and the Neptunes blew up, it makes sense that among the dozens of high-profile artists they worked with would include Diddy.
Piece By Piece Soundtrack Guide: Every Song & When They Play
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The pair worked together on songs like “Finna Get Loose” and “Diddy,” with Pharrell providing guest vocals. Some of these collaborations do appear inPiece by Piecein small doses, like Busta Rhymes' “Pass the Courvoisier Part II.” However,Diddy is not overtly referenced in the narrativeand isn’t among the celebrities who appear as a talking head in the film.Piece by Piecedoesn’t ignore Diddy but doesn’t focus on him at all. Given Diddy’s recent arrest and the nature of the crimes he’s accused of, this decision makes a lot of sense.
Moments In Piece By Piece That Didn’t Happen To Pharrell
The Animated Nature OfPiece By PieceAllows For Some Big Moments
Filtered throughoutPiece by Pieceare smaller moments that didn’t necessarily happen to him, but serve as big visual cues to signify his growth and evolution as an artist. When Pharrell is a child, he is drawn to underwater imagery as well as the words of famed astronomer Carl Sagan. Snippets of Sagan’s televised appearances are played early in the film, and used as a meaningful echo later in the movie once an older Pharrell becomes reflective about himself and his impact on the world.
Snippets from Carl Sagan’sCosmosplay in the 1st and 3rd acts ofPiece by Piece.
Early inPiece by Piece, Pharrell imagines an underwater landscape full of massive fish and mighty gods like Poseidon. This influence is suggested to be the origin of the Neptunes' name, cementing Pharrell’s connection to the ocean. While some of the imagery never exactly happened to Pharrell (such as venturing under the seas with giant fish or being left adrift in a raging storm during a career low point), this visual cue serves as a clever shorthand for Pharrell’s growth. These creative flourishes only deepen the story that Pharrell and his frequent collaborators are exploring inPiece by Piece.
Piece by Piece
Cast
Piece by Piece, released in 2024, embarks on a vibrant animated journey through the life of cultural icon Pharrell Williams. Presented through LEGO animation, the film explores Williams’s evolution and contributions to music, offering audiences a unique visual and sonic exploration of his creative legacy.
