Charli xcx Jokes She Went ‘Method From the Day I Was Born’ for ‘The Moment’ Role: ‘Have I Had a Breakdown While Smoking a Million Cigarettes? Yes’

At a Berlin Film Festival press conference for her satirical mockumentary "The Moment," Charli xcx quipped that her entire life had been a rehearsal for the role. "It was Method acting from birth," the pop musician joked about portraying an exaggerated version of herself. The film, which premiered at Sundance, crafts a fictional scenario where the artist grapples with selling her artistic integrity for commercial fame, a plot manipulated by a documentary filmmaker played by Alexander Skarsgård. This narrative joins a growing trend of self-referential celebrity projects, with some industry observers noting it represents how a digitally-native generation of creators metabolizes the pressures of fame directly through their work. As media scholar Dr. Anya Petrova remarked, "These meta-narratives are less about vanity and more about artists seizing the means of production to critique the very systems that made them famous."

The supporting cast features Rosanna Arquette and comedians Kate Berlant and Jamie Demetriou, alongside model Hailey Benton Gates, actor Isaac Powell, and a buzzy cameo from Kylie Jenner. Charli xcx—whose hyper-pop anthems like "Boom Clap" and "1999" catapulted her to fame—stressed that while the story is fabricated, its emotions are rooted in reality. "I've skirted close to edges like those in the film," she admitted, explaining that certain characters are composites of real industry personalities. She mined specific personal experiences for her performance, recalling with a laugh, "A meltdown in the back of a van while chain-smoking? Absolutely. So I had a deep well of material to pull from."

Released by the independent powerhouse A24—the studio behind critically acclaimed films such as "The Lighthouse" and "Uncut Gems"—"The Moment" has achieved remarkable commercial success. It set a new record as A24's fastest-selling limited release, with over 50 sold-out screenings across U.S. cities fueled largely by the artist's ardent young fanbase. Its European rollout begins following its Berlin showcase. Charli expressed special honor in debuting the film at the Berlinale, an event founded in 1951 during the Cold War that has long been a platform for politically engaged filmmaking. "That's precisely the type of cinema we admire and aspire to support," she said, hinting at future ambitions in similarly rigorous creative spaces.

When asked if the film signifies the conclusion of her massively influential "Brat" era, Charli was unequivocal. "For me, it's finished, and there's no point dreading an ending that's already happened," she stated. She linked this directly to the movie's plot: "In the story, my character chooses to liberate herself from 'Brat' and essentially end it. We viewed this film as the definitive period at the end of that album's sentence." This deliberate act of closure offers a meta-perspective on the constructed lifecycle of a modern pop campaign, even as the actual "Brat" tour continues its global run. The strategy underscores an artist actively shaping her own legacy, opting to decisively conclude a cultural chapter rather than let it dissipate.