There's a video that's been floating around on YouTube where [Baz Luhrmann says], "We were looking for a guy that sounded like a young Stevie Wonder but much more we got a guy that sounded like a younger version of Aretha Franklin. His name's Quindon Tarver." I was just like, "Wow, to be compared to her."

I even have some stories of people telling me how that song has changed their life, how it got them through hard times, how it saved their life when they were on the verge of thinking of doing the worst. That just really amazes me, that that movie [Romeo + Juliet] and that part in the movie are still having a huge effect on people's lives today.

[Leonardo DiCaprio] invited me into his dressing room, and then we went into his hotel room where we stayed. We shared caramel popcorn. I think that was the coolest thing, sharing popcorn with this movie star. And then we wrestled! I always share that story with people.

I had to perform in Dallas at the W Hotel. I was with my best friend, and I had walked on in to the area where I was meeting the crew. Then my best friend came in, and he's like, "This girl at the front desk asked, 'Is his name Quindon? I know him, he's that guy from Romeo + Juliet, I'm one of his big fans.'" I was just like, how does she recognize me from then to now? I was wowed by that because here I am 34, it was 20 years ago, and how does she recognize me?

I guess they still show the movie in school, so around the time of movie showing, my Facebook inbox and my Instagram DM is flooded. "Are you the Quindon Tarver from the movie Romeo + Juliet? Oh my god, you did a great job."

I had met a lady there by the name of Laura Ziffren.She heard that I got signed to Virgin and reached out to my management company. They needed a kid to sing that part in the movie, and she remembered me, and her people reached out to my people, and I went and auditioned, and I got the part [in Romeo + Juliet].

[Baz Luhrmann] is very serious - he wants it done and he wants it done accurately. He was in the studio actually when I recorded "Everybody's Free." I remember meeting him and him being amazed by my voice.