Back in 2002, Greta Gerwig was just like us. She listened to Justin Timberlake and Alanis Morissette. She was not an actor or director just yet, but she was stowing away all that angst and music appreciation for the perfect moment. And that moment is Lady Bird, because as she explained to Seth Myers, she went back to her 2002 self when she reached out to those musical luminaries to get their music for the film.
According to Vulture, Gerwig shared the letters she wrote to Timberlake, Morissette, and Dave Matthews in order to have a few tunes for Lady Bird. While she may be the picture of poise and polish now, the letters reveal that she was totally fangirling over the musicians.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
"I mean, what can I say? You're Justin Timberlake," one letter reads. "You were the soundtrack to my adolescence. Your rise corresponded exactly with my very awkward puberty."
With mentions of Sony's Discman, Tower Records, and cassette tapes (Gerwig didn't have a CD player back in 2002), it doesn't get more aughties that her letter to JT. She goes on to explain that "Cry Me A River" is "sultry and sullen" before comparing it to the '60s anthem "Gimme Shelter." Anyone who's seen the movie knows that the song did end up in the movie (Vanity Fair added that there was no more perfect song to capture the moment where a boy attends the most popular girl in school's pool party), so Gerwig's sincere plea did the trick.
Greta Gerwig's letter to Justin Timberlake asking to license Cry Me A River is wonderful https://t.co/DH7oM2DKlW pic.twitter.com/6qiG77rbLX
— Jackson McHenry (@McHenryJD) November 21, 2017
As for her other letters, Gerwig casually tossed in a YouTube video of Lady Bird star Saoirse Ronan singing a cover of "Ironic" with a Weird Al-style twist (it's called "Moronic") to sway Alanis Morissette. She really laid the compliments on thick for that particular letter, saying that Morissette's role as God in Dogma seemed very fitting for a woman who "made a lot of girls feel like they could do anything."
If Gerwig's heartfelt letters don't hit you right in the feels, hearing her gush about how the songs affected her definitely will. Check it all out in the clip below.
Read These Stories Next: