After devoting his first two albums to Broadway and Christmas classics, Michael Longoria is turning his attention to the silver screen.
Last month, the New York actor and singer released “Like They Do in the Movies,” a 16-song collection of beloved film soundtrack songs. Featuring hits from “Top Gun,” “Pretty Woman” and “Titanic,” the album is a pleasant nostalgia trip for just about anyone who’s ever reminisced about the rush of a first kiss.
Longoria, who starred on Broadway in “Jersey Boys” and now performs with three former co-stars as The Midtown Men, also wanted “Like They Do in the Movies” to showcase his own songwriting prowess. So he opened his third album with an original song, “Kiss Me (Like They Do in the Movies).”
HuffPost got an exclusive first look at the music video for the song, viewable above. In it, Longoria references iconic James Bond and James Dean movie moments while hitting the cinema on the arm of a handsome date (played by Anthony Crouchelli).
“Kiss Me (Like They Do in the Movies),” Longoria told HuffPost, is “really all about my journey [in] trying to find true love. Does true love really exist in a kiss, and in that kiss, can you really feel what we’ve been sold in all these rom-coms that we’ve grown up with?”
“I was exploring that kind of inner struggle that I have with wanting to have that kind of movie romance for myself,” he added, “and the debate on whether or not it’s true.”
The releases of the album and video come at a transitional time for Longoria, who split from his husband in March.
“It’s been 10 years since I’ve been single, so it’s a brand new world, and I’m not sure if I like that,” he said. “But I’m back to square one where I’m like figuring out myself again, and figuring out what I want.”
The breakup did, however, prompt Longoria ― who’d been contemplating a new musical direction after the release of his holiday album, “Merry Christmas Darling,” last year ― back into the studio. He believes the rawness of his real-life emotions can be heard on many of the songs, notably his version of “I Will Always Love You” from “The Bodyguard.”
Audiences can hear many of the new songs live when Longoria returns to the New York concert stage Dec. 17 with a holiday show that will benefit Opening Act, a student advocacy group that aims to bring theater to underserved schools.
And “Kiss Me (Like They Do in the Movies)” also hints at the future of his recording career. He’s already begun work on a fourth album, which will include all-original material. Though he’s yet to establish himself as a songwriter, he isn’t daunted by the proposition.
“If you can make somebody feel something when they hear the lyrics of a song, that’s a gift,” he said. “When I’m singing a song about a breakup and somebody hasn’t been able to find the words to describe what it feels like to have your heart ripped out that way, those words become their words. That’s the gift I’m giving to people.”
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