The scandalous story of Milli Vanilli is being filmed. Producer Quirin Berg (“The Lives of Others”) is planning a biopic that will explore the rise of the pop duo with their worldwide hit “Girl You Know It’s True” and their fall after it was revealed that Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan didn’t have any of theirs sang songs themselves. Simon Verhoven (“Men’s Hearts”) is to direct. Now it has become known who is to play the role of music producer Frank Farian: Matthias Schweighöfer.
Boney-M producer Farian had already recorded ALL OR NOTHING in the 80s before Milli Vanilli formed. In the US, the album was released under the same name as her hit single, GIRL YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE, where it went six times platinum. Milli Vanilli won a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1990. They were stripped of this after Farian had to publicly admit in November 1990 that Pilatus and Morvan could not sing themselves and that their songs were all recorded by other singers. During performances, the duo sang playback.
Frank Farian is 81 years old today. According to the BILD newspaper, he said about Schweighöfer’s commitment: “Before, I only knew Matthias Schweighöfer by name. But in the end he meets all the criteria that are important to me. He looks a lot like me, speaks very good English and he can sing! An actor who has no idea about music would certainly not have been the right person for the role. And Matthias is also a musician!” His wife and children also found that Schweighöfer, who wore make-up for the role, looked “confusingly similar” to the real Frank Farian. That’s another reason why Farian Schweighöfer gave his blessing.
Matthias Schweighöfer is one of the most established actors in Germany. He is also known in Hollywood since his role in the zombie films “Army Of The Dead” (2021) and “Army Of Thieves” (2021). In addition, Schweighöfer is active as a producer, speaker, director and musician: his first solo album LACHEN, WEINEN, TANZEN was released in 2017, followed by HOBBY in 2020.
It is not yet known who will play in the film about Milli Vanilli Morvan and Pilatus. Robert Pilatus himself died in April 1998 after an overdose of alcohol and other drugs. Fab Morvan released a solo album in 2004 and took part in the Jungle Camp show I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!