In “Piece by Piece,” Pharrell finds that Lego fits his life story

TORONTO (AP) — When Pharrell Williams And Morgan Neville They decided to make a film about Williams' life, but they knew there would be culture shock since they were made of Lego bricks. But the production of “Piece by Piece” still went to some places that neither Williams, Neville, nor Lego could have predicted.

“We talked at length in a 'Rump Shaker' video about how wide the back of a minifigure's bikini bottoms would be,” Neville says with a laugh. “We had a lot of discussions about things that I thought I would never talk about as a filmmaker.”

“Piece by Piece” did not come with easy-to-assemble instructions. It's part music biography, part documentary, part family film. It, like much of Williams' life as a hitmaker, exudes excitement, beats and strangeness.

“Society likes to pigeonhole us, pun intended,” Williams says, speaking alongside Neville. “This was a moment where this man's view of my life and the way he saw it strung together was incredibly liberating for me. Even though I’ve never seen myself in a box before, this is now helping other people too.”

“Piece by Piece,” which Focus Features releases in theaters Friday, begins, like many documentaries, with director Neville sitting down with a camera crew focused on his subject, Williams. But in this case, Williams — and everything else, including a bearded, bespectacled Neville — are Lego bricks.

“What if we told my life with Legos?” Williams asks in the film. “That will never happen,” Neville replies.

What follows is something of a traditional documentary, with a colorful depiction of past struggles and triumphs, from his childhood in Virginia Beach to his string of top hits, told through Williams' voiceover and a series of talking heads. This way it was recorded in interviews, either on camera, via Zoom or by phone, and then animated in Lego form. Here's finally a chance to see Busta Rhymes in Lego along with many others including Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and Missy Elliott.

“The first meeting we had was with Lego, because if they had said no there would have been no film,” says Neville, the director of documentaries such as “20 Feet From Stardom.” “Don’t you want to be my neighbor?” And “Steve!” “To their credit, they not only said yes, but I think they understood the growth it would force them to do.”

For Lego, the Danish toy maker, making Piece by Piece was its biggest gamble since its entry into feature films “The Lego Movie” from 2014. Neville approached the company's head of global entertainment, Jill Wilfert, with a proposal for Lego's first foray into a documentary that wasn't about itself. Wilfert reacted immediately.

“The whole idea behind Lego is its endless creativity and limitless possibilities, and Pharrell really embodies that,” she says.

As a proof of concept, Neville put together a 90-second video in which Williams reflects on his upbringing and the inspiration of artists like Stevie Wonder. (A vinyl version of “Songs in the Key of Life” is also one of those things you never expected to see as Lego.)

“I said to myself, 'This will absolutely work,'” says Neville. “And everyone we showed it to got it. They said, I want to see this movie.”

Still, Neville and Williams knew that the Lego approach would mean working within PG parameters. Some things about Williams' life – like being young and famous while also operating in the upper echelons of pop and hip-hop – wouldn't fit into a family-friendly film. Williams says the film “paraphrases” his life.

“There were definitely some areas that didn’t meet my expectations of where we would go,” Wilfert says. “We had many good conversations throughout the entire process. With Morgan and Pharrell there was a mutual respect because we are a brand that people have high expectations of and expect certain things from. So we worked with them on areas that we thought made sense and areas that didn’t make sense.”

It pushed Lego forward in other ways too. Williams is particularly proud that the film led to Lego expanding its available skin tones and hair textures. Williams' Lego self – what he worn proudly for the premiere of “Piece by Piece” at the Toronto International Film Festival – was specially adapted to his own skin tone.

“You name the type of people we fought hard for their existence and recognition,” Williams says. “Lego did it and I think the brand is better for it.”

One of the film's cleverest designs is the illustration of tracks that Williams created himself or in collaboration with, such as “Drop It Like It's Hot” by Snoop Dogg, “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani, “Hot in Herre” by Nelly or ” Happy” by Pharrell. Each is a unique, small, glowing set of assembled Lego bricks.

Other, less happy aspects of Williams' life are out of the question. You won't see any of that the “Blurred Lines” lawsuit, in which the estate of Marvin Gaye sued for copyright infringement and won. There is also nothing in the film about Williams' recent legal disputes with his Neptunes co-founder Chad Hugo. Earlier this year, Hugo filed a trademark objection against the duo's name, claiming Williams had “fraudulently” attempted to gain control of it. Representatives for Williams disagreed, saying Williams made “multiple attempts to participate in the property.”

However, “Piece By Piece” contains a positive portrayal of Hugo, particularly in Williams' early days in Virginia Beach when the two began making music together.

“There is nothing bittersweet. I am so grateful for my experiences. “Chad is an integral part of the beginning, the genesis of my pursuit of music and my existence there,” says Williams. “I met him in band class in second grade and the memories we have of playing music together wouldn’t have me sitting here if we hadn’t met.”

Williams, who is Creative Director of Men's Fashion at Louis VuittonShe is talented when it comes to brand management. He released his debut solo album “In My Mind” in 2006 and came into the spotlight himself long ago. But, as he himself admits, he remains a producer at heart. Not everything about “Bit by Bit” was easy for him.

“A lot of it was vulnerability for me,” Williams says. “I cry twice in the story. I didn't expect him to ask questions that would trigger emotions. I'm such a manufactured person. I got so much out of myself.”

It's a feeling Neville can relate to as a versatile documentarian accustomed to adapting to the style and demeanor of his subjects.

“Pharrell, as a producer, often holds a mirror up to artists so they can see themselves. My job is to hold a mirror up to him so he can see himself,” says Neville. “I feel like we have the same job in a weird way.”

When Neville interviewed other musicians for the film, he told them that they would be animated. But he didn't say how. Only later did they find out they would be Lego minifigures.

“Everyone was so shocked and so thrilled,” Williams says. “I feel like it unleashed the inner child in everyone. At least some of them see life that way. Others, even the tough guys, said, 'Oh man, that's so cool.'”

Capturing Williams' life in a playful, even childlike way will certainly help some younger viewers identify with his story. Becoming a world-famous multi-hyphenate may seem unattainable to most, but Piece by Piece almost makes it look like child's play.

“There is a universality that Lego brings,” says Neville. “I feel like this whole film is an experiment in the tension between the specificity of real life and documentary and the imagination and universality of the imagination.”