Tom Francis. Manny Carabel/Getty Images
Tom Francis might have been too young to blast The Pussycat Dolls’ “Don’t Cha,” at the time of its release, but he was well aware of who his Sunset Blvd. costar Nicole Scherzinger was.
“I knew them. I wasn’t the biggest fan. I wouldn’t say I was a fan,” Francis, 25, exclusively told Us Weekly after finishing his performance on the opening night of Broadway’s Sunset Blvd. earlier this month.
“[Scherzinger, 46,] always gets annoyed at me because I hadn’t watched one of her videos that got Grammy nominated. And she was like, ‘How have you not seen that?’ And I was like, ‘Sorry. I was growing up!’ Do you know what I mean?” Francis joked.
In 2005, when The Pussycat Dolls were in their prime after releasing their debut studio album PCD, Francis would have been 6 years old.
However, as he’s gotten a little older, Francis admitted to Us that “Buttons” is now his favorite song from the former girl group.
Kimberly Wyatt, Jessica Sutta, Nicole Scherzinger, Melody Thornton and Ashley Roberts of The Pussycat Dolls. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for DCPNYE
Both Scherzinger and Francis won Olivier Awards in April for their performances in The West End Theatre. Francis gushed to Us about what it was like working with the triple threat.
“She’s so generous with her time for me. And yeah, she just holds me when I needed to be held on stage, and in life as well,” he said. “She’s just the loveliest woman.”
Director Jamie Lloyd’s revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s stage adaptation of the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, follows the story of actress Norma Desmond (Scherzinger) who won’t accept that her career isn’t as buzzy as it once was, and in an effort to return to the spotlight, she hires a screenwriter Joe Gillis, (Francis) to write a film that can revive her status.
In the show’s second act, when Francis begins singing “Sunset Boulevard” before he ventures out into the NYC streets for a live performance of the number, there’s a picture of The Pussycat Dolls in his dressing room. Lloyd, 43, made the decision to reference The Pussycat Dolls and said Scherzinger loved the idea because she is “one of the funniest people [he’s] ever met.”
Nicole Scherzinger and Tom Francis. Bruce Glikas/Getty Images
“She loves anything that’s when we think out of the box and surprise audiences,” Lloyd said.
“The production plays a lot with the idea of, ‘Where does Nicole Scherzinger end, and Norma Desmond begin?’ Because there are so many similarities. And, of course, Nicole really connects to this role in a very particular way, a very deep way,” Lloyd continued. “This is the kind of fun to be had with blurring those lines…So, you’re kind of playing around with the idea. In a way that it’s kind of fun, but maybe that’s because we have a lot of fun as a company. So, everyone kind of brings that sense of humor to the project, apart from anything else.”
Lloyd also acknowledged the similarities between Scherzinger and her character, Desmond — this is the singer’s Broadway debut and, as a result, she is now receiving all the attention her talent deserves.
“I didn’t know that Nicole was going to be the perfect Norma, but I did know that she would have a connection to the material. So she is like Norma Desmond — someone who has been incredibly famous, achieved great fame, but then kind of was dismissed and discarded by an industry and never really been given the opportunity to show the world what she could really do,” Lloyd told Us. “She’s a great, great artist. A phenomenal actor. An incredible world-class vocalist. And finally, she has a platform. I hope to show the world what she is capable of achieving.”
Olivier nominee, David Thaxton — who plays Max Von Mayerling in the show — also gushed to Us about working with the Moana actress.
“I have so much time for Nicole. She’s the hardest working actor I’ve ever worked with, Thaxton, 42, said. “Her work ethic is staggering … she just leaves herself on the stage.”
But when it comes to being a fan of Scherzinger’s work in The Pussycat Dolls, Thaxton jokingly replied, “God no. No, not at all.”
Since working with her, Thaxton admits he will “not” go back and listen to his costar’s past work in the girl group.
“Not my cup of tea at all. However, she’s my cup of tea,” Thaxton said. “I think she’s epic. I’ve got so much time for her. She’s a really inspiring person.”
Sunset Blvd. is now playing at the St. James Theatre and the show’s cast album is out now.