Dave Franco Talks ‘The Afterparty’ and Making Music as Fictional Pop Star Xavier

variety.com:

Ethan Shanfeld Dave Franco’s character Xavier plummets to his death within the first minute of “The Afterparty.” But there’s plenty more to learn about the dweeb-turned-pop-superstar, whose origins and motivations unravel across eight episodes of Chris Miller and Phil Lord’s whodunnit, which premiered on Apple TV Plus on Jan.

28.While the series only gives viewers a small taste of Xavier’s music, now fans of “The Afterparty” can enjoy four fully produced songs from the fictional artist on his brand new EP, “R.I.P.

Xavier.”On TikTok, users can join Franco in a duet on “Do Wet,” which features profound lyrics such as: “Champagne pouring (I like to do wet) / Hit it in the morning (I like to do wet).” The ironic “Imma Live Forever” features Xavier surviving death-defying acts but ends with a title card that reads, “Tragically, Xavier died shortly after filming this video.” It’s a clever callback to the show, but Franco notes that the joke is lost on people who haven’t seen the show and might not recognize him.“People online who don’t recognize me in this part are wondering, ‘What is going on there?

I don’t want to be insensitive, but this guy just made a music video about how he’s going to live forever and then he actually died after making this?'” Franco tells Variety. “I just love that people are taking Xavier seriously as a musician.”The fact that Xavier’s songs could reasonably be mistaken for pop radio fodder is a testament to Franco’s commitment to the character, as well as producer Stelios Phili, who’s worked with artists such as A$AP Ferg and SZA.Franco had never sung professionally before, but he says his vocal coach and music supervisor “recognized my vocal limitations from the get-go and created all these songs.