John Legend praises Michelle and Barack Obama.
During a recent press day in Los Angeles surrounding his upcoming film Southside With You, the 37-year-old described the inspiration behind his tale about the initial romance between Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson, the nation’s current president and first lady.
“I’ve been around both of them quite a bit and I think they are just so cool,” Legend told reporters of the Obamas during the press conference at The London Hotel in West Hollywood, California. “We are so fortunate to have two people who are so brilliant, so authentic, so honest and full of integrity and who have a true love for each other and create this beautiful partnership together as the representative couple of America.”
As for what makes the pair so cool, Legend said, “What’s so cool about them to me is that, with all this power, with all this grandeur that surrounds the office, they’re still really down to Earth.” He continued, “They still are really in touch with the people and still so relatable and I think that comes from the fact that they know where they come from and know where they met.”
“I think they still carry that with them everywhere they go and I think it gives them perspective,” he added. “Whether they’re in the White House or hanging out with their friends or wherever they are, they’re authentic and that’s what I think about the president and first lady.”
Aside from executive producing the highly anticipated film, Legend penned the song “Start” for the soundtrack. “My sense watching the rough cut of the film was one, it was a very intimate look at a very public couple so I wanted the song to feel intimate and close and I sang it in a way that is basically like a whisper,” he shared.
“The idea behind the way I wrote it and the way I sang it was to create that sense of intimacy and vulnerability and uncertainty that we all feel in a first date,” he added.
Furthermore, Legend added, “He saw something special in her and I think eventually she saw something special in him. He basically was saying like I say in the song, we don’t know where it’s gonna go but it won’t go anywhere unless we start. This movie is about the start.”
