Paul Becker is the face behind some of the most amazing dance scenes and concert tours of our time. The Canadian-born dancer and protégé of fellow choreographer, Kenny Ortega, has paved his way to Hollywood and shows no signs of slowing down.
Becker has been called upon to choreograph box office hits such as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Mirror Mirror and Sucker Punch as well as the biggest names in music including the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and Michael Buble. "He also choreographed the intricate, not to mention dangerous, cheerleading routines in the TV series Hellcats.
Becker spoke to TheCelebrityCafe.com about his diverse and impressive resume along with his intriguing future ventures. He cleverly divulged just enough details to keep us wanting more!
TheCelebrityCafe: So I wanted to start off talking about one of your most recent projects. You choreographed scenes for Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and Breaking Dawn Part 2. How does it feel to be a part of such a worldwide craze?
Paul Becker: It’s quite overwhelming to be honest. It was a fun project to be on and it was very nice to work with Bill Condon, the director, and the cast couldn’t have been more accommodating and talented. I wish I could talk more about the film because they have everyone on strict confidentiality clauses limiting how much we can and what we can’t say. But I will say I get a lot of crazy fan mail from it. I appreciate the support. I am happy that I’m a part of this franchise.
TCC: I heard you called the dancing in Diary of a Wimpy Kid “choreographed awkwardness."
PB: I got to do all three Wimpy Kids. The third one is about to come out in theaters on August [3]. Wimpy Kids is always choreographed awkwardness - it really is. It’s been fun. His latest one, there is a little bit of it in the trailer, they are doing a big Dance Dance Revolution scene. It’s just really funny.
I love choreographing comedy. You get to laugh all day. That’s why I love working with comedians and doing comedy films and TV shows. The thing with Wimpy Kids is each time I come back there it’s like a family. I keep in touch with them and it’s like a family there.
TCC: The final scene in Mirror Mirror with Lily Collins is incredible. What was it like working with the hundreds of dancers?
PB: It was cool. Working with large numbers is always a challenge. I’m actually really good at it. I’m not bragging, but I’m really good at it because I really enjoy working with large numbers of people - the strategy of how to get them all to move as one and get them all to move in different patterns in ways of not hitting each other.
It’s always a challenge working with large groups because you really have to coordinate it. It’s like doing a giant Olympic event. It takes a real certain kind of brain to do that. There are only a few certain choreographers who are really good at wrangling that amount of people. Guys like Kenny Ortega. There’s people that are great at doing large numbers like that and working with large groups of people.
TCC: You also did the Michael Buble video for ‘Haven’t Met You Yet’ which was another large group number. Can you tell me more about that?
PB: That was one of my best experiences. We were filming all night. It was a blast. I had no clue when we were doing it that the video would blow up to be so huge. The next week it was on Oprah. It really took right off. I wasn’t expecting that at all.
TCC: You were involved in another fairy tale-based production called Once Upon a Time. What was that experience like?
PB: Once Upon a Time was great. I had just come off of Mirror Mirror and I was working on these medieval type pieces and they just so happened to want one. I had already done my research. It was pretty easy to go right in there and again that was a really large number of people. They shoot it on a green screen so we were able to multiply the amount of people in post-production so it looked like even more people.
TCC: Do you plan to stay on board for season 2?
PB: I hope so. There’s not dance in every episode so whenever they do, I hope to be apart of it. If I’m available, I’d love that.
TCC: You have now moved on to directing. Did you always want to do this or did choreographing movies and TV shows spark your interest?
PB: I’ve always had an interest in directing. It’s just choreography happened to be my path to do it. As a choreographer, I’m already directing. It just happened naturally the way I work as a choreographer. I set up shop and I do everything for the camera. It’s a natural progression.
TCC: What projects are you currently working on?
PB: I have a big Halloween one coming up called Who’s Your Monster. It’s on the Disney Channel starring Olivia Holt from Kickin’ It. There’s another one with Ralph Macchio for Lifetime coming out called Holiday Spin. One I've worked really hard on that I would love to mention is a movie called Low Life with Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix and Marion Cotillard. It takes place in 1910 on Ellis Island right at the end of the vaudeville days.
I got to work with Jeremy Renner and I was actually dance doubles with him as well. There’s vaudeville numbers and burlesque. Old, gritty, the real kind of burlesque - not glamorous burlesque. And I’m doing a [movie] musical called Stage Fright.
Check out Paul Becker in action teaching Ashley Greene and Jackson Rathbone their dance routine for Breaking Dawn Part 1: