Photo: Universal Pictures
We were excited to Juliette Lewis and Molly Ringwald were joining the cast of Jon M. Chu's live-action film based on the popular Hasbro toy and '90s animated series. Now the first image from the film -- which shows Hayley Kiyoko as blue-haired Aja, Aubrey Peeples as the pale pink-haired main star Jem (aka Jerrica), and Stefanie Scott as Kimber (hot pink hair) -- all performing onstage has gotten us feeling, in the words of another film hit, everything is awesome.
"Nobody will be disappointed with the hair, makeup and the fashion," Peeples told E! News last June. "We had a lot of different performance looks, each one is truly outrageous. I look at pictures and I can't believe that's me. It's so weird."
In a sort of related note, the Jem and the Holograms #1 comic book is set to appear in shops next month, so The Advocate talked with the Jem comic's creative team to discuss the band's updated look and why classic characters Stormer and Kimber are coming out of the closet as lesbians. When asked why gay men and boys adored Jem growing up, Kelly Thompson responded:
I think Jem and The Holograms was really unique to the landscape of shows in that it was about a lot of things and covered a lot of bases. It was definitely about women and it was about music and fashion and fame, but there was also a high-octane adventure aspect to it, which probably helped young boys feel OK about watching what they might otherwise have perceived to be a "girls' show" and then for many of them, they found something that spoke more powerfully to them than a lot of the other stuff they were being offered. Jem was really unique and special in that way, and I think it means a lot to the fans, then and now.
