1D talk fainting fans and why girls love them so much at One direction: This is Us press conference

Earlier this summer Yahoo! Movies was among a group of journalists in Mexico who got to grill (via Skype) some up-and-coming band called One Direction about their new doc ‘One direction: This is Us’.

[One Direction - exclusive interview]

The scene was slightly odd because the chaps were in Manchester about to do a concert, and were suitably hyped. They mocked journalists and director Morgan Spurlock, who was also on hand to answer questions.

Here’s some edited highlights of the slightly chaotic chat below…

What the lads thought of Morgan…

Niall Horan (NH): I like his hair

Louis Tomlinson (LT):  I like his blazer.

Harry Styles (HS):  I like his mustache

Zayn Malik (ZM): Yeah he’s got a good mustache.

Liam Payne (LP): He’s giving us tips on how to grow one.

LT:  I like his shoes.

HS: I think with Morgan – I think he’s in like the films he’s done in the past he’s always kind of got really involved in it. And kind of prepared to go the xtra mile. We’ve seen the stuff he’s done. Like he takes it upon himself to kind of show stuff. And you know I think we wanted someone who would get really involved in it and kind of get to know us. And not just kind of stand back and make it from the side lines. So I think with Morgan, we’re lucky that we have that with him. Was that right?

What they think of the energy of the fans…

LP:  We’re on the road so much and doing so much traveling that you know, we haven’t had a bad audience yet at all. So it’s been absolutely amazing. And you know that just drives you on to go on stage every night and have a great time. It’s great.

HS: I think touring is when that kind of helps the most.

LP: Yeah buddy.

HS: You could – you could even have a bad day and when you get kind of – as soon as you step on the stage and you hear like the screams, it automatically you can’t help but like smile when you walk out. You can’t possibly walk around the stage with a frown for two hours.

Will they ever play their own instruments?

LP:  No yeah, 100%. No I’ve actually played some guitar on the last album and recorded some for that. But like in terms of like writing and stuff and that with this album, we’ve done loads of writing. We’re trying to be really forward about that. Because you know we’ve got the time to now. It’s been good. And we’re looking forward to it.

What they learned about themselves during filming…

LT: So we are still very much learning about ourselves.

NH: Yep. I learned that Louis likes no sugar in his tea.

LT: And Niall hit puberty yesterday.

HS: Congratulations

LT: Real armpit hair.

Whether it was intimidating making the film…

ZM: That’s the cool thing about working with someone like Morgan. Because he is so hands-on and involved you do kind of feel like you have full control of everything that is going on.

HS: And it is exciting as well because at the same time you know there is only so much of ourselves that people can see. You know when through like social media or in interviews and stuff like that you can never really get to know someone. And I think this movie is a great chance for you know the fans and just people who don’t really know us to get a chance to see a different side of us that they haven’t seen before.

NH: And when we started our career you know that we lived with cameras for ten weeks on the ‘X-Factor’. So we didn’t have any problem having the cameras around. And it was just a case of getting to know Morgan as we were shooting the movie. And it was um it was very nice.

Why girls love them so much…

LP: I don’t know. Well Harry is the king of hair.

NH: I think it’s just us being ourselves.

HS:  Yeah. I think we’ve always – we’ve never like tried to be anything that
we are not. Um and we’re kind of you know, we’re kind of idiots sometimes.

NH: Yeah we are idiots.

LT: Uh we’re stupid.

HS: And girls come to see us as like the guys would be sat at the back of the classroom throwing paper around the room. And like stuff like that. And I think they can relate to us in terms of that.

HS:  A lot of our fans we’re the same age as. So like – we’d – they’re going through the same exams that we’d be going through. Or that our friends are going through and stuff like that so. You know we are quite like…don’t know. Just normal lads.

LT: We kid.

Did the boys request that anything be cut from the film?

LT: I can’t think of any.

LP: There one bit of the film where I get some like - there was a question where something was in the world. And I got it dramatically wrong, which made me look like an absolute idiot. But I think it’s still going in, which is sad because I look like I’m stupid. I actually got to bid

LT: Look at me I get good grades

LP: But I don’t know where anything is, that just shows you what they are teaching kids in school these days.

LT: I wasn’t very good at geography, now I am.

NH: Because I’ve been places.

HS:  It was from the start, it was quite important to us that we didn’t kind of…we wanted them to film everything. There hasn’t been a time so far when we kind of gone ‘Stop filming because we want to talk about this this.’ We kind of just left it quite open, I think that’s what we all agreed that we wanted and I think that’s how you kind of get the best out of the film. Is obviously kind of one of those things that you get out what you put in.  So I think it was important to us that we let them just kind of have everything.

If they’ve got used to girls fainting…

LP: I dunno. I don’t think that’s ever something that we’re ever really get used to. That reaction. It’s something that you can’t really explain. It just kinda happens sometimes.

LT: Yea. It just seems. I dunno. You just can’t really fathom it.

LP:  Yea I remember the first few gigs we ever did. The first few gigs we did were like in some night club and it was really like round and these girls were fainting and getting pulled out of the audience. And it was just  like, it’s just the strangest thing ever. It’s just mad.

HS: It’s never got not feel weird, someone like screaming at you.

LP: Ahhhh.

LT: I think if someone like…anyways, it’s always going to feel weird. So it’s just the same for us really.

How the fans’ fame affected the shooting of the movie…

Morgan Spurlock (MS): I mean it impacts it all the time. They have such a security apparatus around them constantly just to protect them. If they walk outside they will be mobbed, they will be chased. The bus, when they leave a show every night, they get on the bus and leave and their bus is chased down the street, by you know, hundreds of girls after the show. So for us, it was trying to maintain, to continue to have this intimacy but also safety is always a big concern because you know you don’t want to do something where someone is going to get hurt.

Why Spurlock made the film…

MS: I mean what’s amazing about-about the lads right now is that they are at this incredible place in time where like literally the rocket is still you know roaring through space. And they’re about to go on the biggest tour of their lives. Now they-now they are on that tour. And we capture kind of the build up to that and them going on this worldwide arena tour. And it’s just to get a window into that where-where things are still changing so fast for them and so quickly. And-and you know if you look at what’s happened to them really it’s been three years and-and their lives have been transformed completely. So to be able to have a window into that moment is a really unique and special opportunity to get to have. And it’s been incredible.

His approach as a director…

MS: Yeah you know for us we wanted to um – you know we watched all these films that were made. I watched all these films that were made about you know bands and the past. And – and you know they are you know incredibly unique in what they’ve accomplished and continue to accomplish and the success that they’ve had where literally they’ve become such a global phenomenon so quickly. And for me it was um it was really wanting to give intimacy. So for – for this film you know we wanted to make sure that we gave you access to their – to their lives, their families, their personal lives, their homes; moments that you would normally never get to share. You know we wanted to – they – they have such a great connection to their fans and are really so open with them in so many ways. We wanted that to continue in the film in a way that really was unique and special like the band is.

'One Direction: This is Us' is released in the UK on 29 August.