Billie
Eilish
is putting her life story front and center thanks to her brand new documentary,
Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry,
out now on Apple TV+.
Director
R.J. Cutler
sat down with ABC Audio to explain how the film project came to be and, first and foremost, what interested him in telling a teenage pop star’s story.
“I think it’s a very interesting time of life, a teenage life, people are crossing the threshold from childhood into adulthood and really figuring out who they are,” he explained, saying that, at 19, that is where Eilish is in her life at the moment. “And that was very, that struck me as very rich.”
In addition, Cutler wanted to highlight “the dynamic between Billie and her brother [
Finneas
]” because it further illustrates her family and how it functions.
Overall, the director believes this particular film has something for everyone, and the audience, no matter their age, will take something away from it.
“It’s a film that’s for folks of all ages, it’s a family film,” he described. “It’s a film as much about Billie’s folks as it is about Billy herself.”
As for why such a young singer was so open with the idea of giving the world an unabashed look at her private life, the 59-year-old filmmaker says it wasn’t surprising once he came to know the “bad guy” singer.
“Billie definitely lives in the land of, in the time of social media,” Cutler described, gesturing to the Grammy winner’s 77 million Instagram followers. “It’s a big part of her dynamic with her audience. And I think that’s and that’s very important to her to connect to her audience personally as deeply as her art connects to them musically.”
By Megan Stone and Jason Nathanson
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
