Katy's 'true self' in concert-movie

MANILA, Philippines -  Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson is the daughter of two Christian ministers who allowed only gospel music in their home.

But Hudson’s alter-ego, 27-year-old Katy Perry, looks every inch the pop star, with her purple hair and pink ruffled dress, as she arrives at a Beverly Hills hotel suite to talk about her new movie titled Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D.

Perry invited two filmmakers to tag along as she circled the globe on her sellout 124-arena California Dreams Tour. The movie captures performances and real life, including a glimpse into her marriage to comedian Russell Brand at the beginning of the tour, and one painful moment depicted later when she is seen sobbing as the marriage unravels.

Had you any other music films in your mind when you made that call?

“I was inspired by Madonna’s documentary Truth or Dare. I loved her documentary and I loved seeing it, because I wasn’t exposed to anything like that, really, when I was growing up. For instance, I want to watch the first Alien film because I want to see Prometheus, and I haven’t seen the first one. I wasn’t allowed to watch or hear or be exposed to a lot of different pop culture moments in the ’80s and ’90s, when I was a kid, because of my upbringing.”

And you gave the filmmakers unlimited access during your California Dreams tour?

“Yes, they came on the road and they shot everything — they were there for probably eight months out of the whole year and they had over 300 hours of footage. Then, we started taking swings at the idea of making a movie and reached out to a bunch of people — it was a long process. We took it to different studios, and Paramount really latched onto the idea, and they’ve been great partners. We’re so in-synch and we wanted the same thing. It’s been incredible.”

It’s not just a film of you on tour; it’s a diary of your life up to this point…

“Yes, the narrative is really about overcoming these obstacles of where I came from and who I wanted to be, and my personal obstacle of what I had to get through. And now, I’m still here and I’m still standing. And I think it was important to me to leave in those scenes of me in distress.”

It shows too, that no matter what was going on backstage — no matter how upset you were — you still have that “the show must go on” mentality.

“You have to find a balance between being a human being and a performer. I know that it’s important for me to realize that this is a job at this level and to separate my personal life from my professional life and the fact of the matter is that we all have obstacles and problems in our lives. It would be unfair for me to press my problems on to my audience who were never there to experience that — they were there to be entertained, they were there to have a great time, they were all in costume and so I had to turn that side of me off when I went on stage.”

Is one of the messages in the film that there is a price that you pay for fame, too?

“Yes, there are definitely sacrifices. But that’s part of a lot of people’s stories, whether they are famous or not. There is sacrifice. You know, heavy is the head that wears the crown. I put that in one of my songs — ‘Heavy is the head that wears the crown, don’t let the greatness get you down.’ Sometimes, it can be an extreme pressure, but really, it’s an opportunity. I try and have a positive outlook.”

You’ve said before that Alanis Morissette was an influence on you. Have you met her?

“Yes. I hung out with Alanis the other day — she is just so wise beyond her years. She said something that really stayed with me — she said, ‘Transparency is the new mystery.’ I agree with that, because in our culture, in our society, unfortunately, you see a lot of women, a lot of girls, and people who are ‘famous,’ and they are always perfectly presented — I think that can make people feel insecure. And that’s some of the reasons why I kept those moments in the film where I’m clearly tired and I look horrible. I’ve really built up this cartoon image of me and, in some ways, I think it’s time — not necessarily to break that down, but... to show that not only am I Dorothy wearing slippers and I’ve been on this long journey, but also, here’s what’s under the hood. Here’s where I come from.”

Showing in theaters nationwide starting tomorrow, Aug. 29, Katy Perry: Part of Me is distributed by United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corp.