One Of Drake's 23 Brides Is From Toronto & This Is What It Was Like Filming The Music Video
If you're a Drake fan, chances are you've already listened to Honestly, Nevermind, and of course, seen his newest music video for "Falling Back."
But, for those of you who haven't watched the video yet (and honestly, where have you been?), Drake gets married to 23 different women at his over-the-top wedding ceremony with Tristan Thompson as his best man and The Hangover's foul-mouthed wedding singer belting out 2010 classic "Best I Ever Had."
While there's a lot to take in with this music video, one of the brides who starred in it had some previous experience filming with the 6ix God, and she filled Narcity in on what it was like filming the whole thing.
For Ashley Massiah, a 24-year-old Toronto-based model originally from Ajax, it all started when she was cast in Future's music video for "WAIT FOR U," which featured Drake (and as a knight in shining armour, too).
"That was a crazy experience. I networked really well, I think, through that meeting [with] Director X. I had already known Drake previously but it was cool to actually see him again there and re-familiarize ourselves with everything," Massiah said and mentioned that she had briefly met the Toronto rapper when working bottle service at Sher Club a few years ago.
"A couple weeks later, when I got back from vacation, I got a text from the production manager of Future's music video and he was like, 'We would love to have you back for Drake's music video.'"
So, what was filming like?
Shooting the whole music video took a couple of days, and while Massiah said filming was long, it was well worth all of the hours because it was "definitely a lot of fun."
Director X and Drake not only did a good job fully explaining exactly what will happen in the video, Massiah said, but they also put on a "super fun" atmosphere (that really sounded like the perfect example of "work hard, play hard").
"Like you guys are drinking, you're mingling, there's music playing, the party scene was definitely like a real party," Massiah said. "It was a two-hour actual party that was going on that they just happened to film."
Massiah mentioned that one pre-shooting ritual sometimes included shots of tequila. Cheers to that!
According to the model, the shooting happened at the Fairmont Royal York hotel, across the street from Union Station (which the viewer can see at the end of the music video), and when they were filming, there were actual weddings going on there that same weekend.
"Sometimes me and a bunch of brides would be in the elevator, and somebody would just click on the door and then it would open and they'd see like maybe 10 girls just decked out in full-on gowns and everything like that," Massiah said. "Needless to say they were very confused."
When they were asked about what was going on, Massiah said, "It's like, 'Yeah, we're all getting married. To the same guy.' And the door would just close."
Even though one would think that there would be some competition between 23 brides (even if they are just posing as them), Massiah said all of the women were "definitely really sweet."
"I feel like I made a lot of different friends from around the world that I actually am excited to go see," Massiah said and added she became pretty close with another bride named Cookie, who came all the way from the U.K. to film.
What did you think when you saw the music video come out?
Massiah's favourite part about filming is seeing the end result when the video has gone through all of the edits. So, when she saw "Falling Back," she said she loved it.
"I thought it was funny and so on brand with Drake's brand in general. Marrying 23 women is definitely a trip, but he made it look normal somehow," Massiah said.
Since the video was posted a week ago, the 10-minute "Falling Back" music video has amassed over 10 million views, and Drake has even dropped an album cut of the video since then too.
When asked if she hopes she could star in another Drake music video, Massiah said that "that's up to him."
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
