Finding the Notes in Champagne and Music at Larabee Studios

Over the past couple of years, internet sleuths have kept uncovering the once-public Letterboxd accounts of celebrities like Charli XCX, Hudson Williams, and Ayo Edebiri, offering a rare glimpse into their viewing habits— often to their dismay. For JT, however, there’s nothing to hide; just don’t come to her page with criticism: “I don’t want no honest opinions,” the artist shares via Instagram. “I don’t want you to ever be honest with me on my page. My page is only for you to talk good about me. Like, if you say something bad about me on my page and be like, ‘JT, I love you, but ...’ Blocked!” The attention her review received, while hardly unfamiliar territory for someone accustomed to life in the spotlight as an It Girl, has offered a crash course in the world of cinephiles and self-appointed “film bros.”

“I’m realizing day by day— I hate to use this word but— it’s a cult,” the City Cinderella tells me. After her review went viral and introduced a wider audience to her love of cinema, JT found herself participating in a Q&A with filmmaker Peter Ohs, co-writer and director of Erupcja. “I just thought it was going to be something fun and cute. It was a favor. I love doing someone a favor. That’s my favorite thing. And then when I got there, I’m like, dang, people really take this shit seriously,” the multihyphenate says before exclaiming, “I just love movies.”

And that love continues to run deep. Coinciding with this year’s spring/summer NYFW at the historic independent Roxy Cinema, JT programmed a four-night run, spanning all of September, of films that speak to her forthcoming debut album, Club Cheetah. “These are actually my favorite movies,” she shares with me. The first night saw friends, supporters, and “cinebaes” gather to watch Paul Verhoeven’s controversial 1995 classic, Showgirls. “I just love the whole storyline,” JT explains. “The grit and the glamour of Showgirls. And I love how strict it is. I love the fashion and love the makeup. The makeup was so timeless because I would wear my makeup like every look in that movie.” 

Before the film began, JT walked into the pitch-black theater to clapping and cheering, playfully responding, “We at the movies, y’all. We cannot make noise. We gotta be quiet,” before finding her seat. I hadn’t seen the film in over a decade, especially not on a 35mm silver screen. As the credits rolled, aside from the incredibly graphic and sexual imagery that has definitely inspired plenty of think pieces, the film remained treasured not only for its visual candy— which JT references so well, with the club in the film named Club Cheetah— but also for its nuanced portrayal of being a woman, and an ambitious one at that. “That’s what I love about Showgirls. [...] Seeing someone come from nothing to something, being the underdog and becoming the main girl at the end,” she says of the film that has remained a favorite for years.

Next up on the slate is Stephen Norrington’s iconic feature, Blade. “That was my brother’s favorite movie,” JT says. “I remember when we would have to share the TV sometimes, and I was such a girly girl growing up, like a Disney girl. So when my brother wanted to watch Blade, I used to feel like it was a boy movie... torture. [...] But as I grew up and watched the movie again, it just takes me back to my childhood.” Like many films, though, it resonates differently with age and some life experience. “I love the dark fashion in it. I love the club scene. The club scene is iconic. And yeah, it’s a comfort movie for me,” the now-New York resident shares.

Following Blade, Leilah Weinraub’s singular 2018 documentary, Shakedown— accompanied by a conversation between JT and the filmmaker— graces the Roxy. “Baby Seal (Lizzi Bougatsos) made my sculpture for the City Cinderella album cover. She was telling me to watch Shakedown because she was like, let’s pull inspiration from there,” JT explains. “When I watched it, the movie was off the chain. I’m like, this is good, and I gotta meet the director.” From there, the relationship began. “I tapped in with Leilah, and we’ve been locked in ever since. She was helping me with Club Cheetah. She runs a strict program. She overwhelmed me,” JT teases. “She laughs every time. She’s so proud of me. But she is such an artist.”

The parallels between Weinraub’s and JT’s work feel natural, rooted in a shared pulse on culture and a deep understanding of the worlds they inhabit. “Everybody should see Shakedown because of the rawness, the way it’s shy, and how it shows another side of club culture that I’m very familiar with. Even though I’m not familiar with lesbian culture, I really relate to the hole-in-the-wall strip clubs that I used to go to in my early days in Miami, Florida,” JT explains.

The adapted screenplay, written by Jeremy O. Harris, offers a nuanced entry point into an otherwise stigmatized world that can contain some really dark spaces and people. Fortunately for Zola, like JT, they make it out on the other side.

“Shout out to Jeremy [O. Harris] because I could just pick up the phone and ask him anything. He’s always willing to help, and he makes me feel really, really welcome in that [film] space because, as I said, film is very serious,” JT notes about her recent introduction to the world. Thankfully, she has friends like O. Harris helping demystify a culture that can often feel closed off from the outside.

As JT wraps up a program that feels both illuminating and deeply personal, anticipation for Club Cheetah only continues to build. “I get boring at night. To be honest. That’s why I need this Club Cheetah era. Because I am the type that will go to sleep while everybody goes out,” the kaleidoscopic artist says. With a few singles already released, including “Numb” and “Girls Gone Wild — experimentations on JT’s recognizable sound— the project feels destined to soundtrack long nights with friends and sweaty dancing with strangers, the kind of nights where we’ll eventually look back and say, “Last night was a movie.” 

Check out JT’s latest single, “Numb,” here and stay tuned for her debut album, Club Cheetah.