Though it remains unclear why. While Mama Jan—Justin Bieber's self-deprecating and self-proclaimed childless, fiftysomething vocal coach Jan Smith—attempts to walk him through guttural voice warm-ups before a concert, the 16 year old's attention is focused elsewhere. Rubbing his hand on his baby-soft chin, he asks her for a razor. Though she hesitates (and seems to question why), eventually Mama Jan hands over the razor, which doesn't appear to be a Lady Bic, and Bieber's lathers up with shaving cream.
Chris Pizzello / AP Photo
Bieber is a family man—and not just because he's still a minor. His mother had him at 18 and though she and his father Jeremy Bieber never married, both are involved in Justin's life. But in Never Say Never, it's clear his closest family member is his maternal grandfather Bruce Dale. His home (which he shares with Bieber's maternal grandmother, Diane) has long been young Bieber's refuge. After his big homecoming show in Toronto in August 2010, instead of being put up at a hotel that he could easily afford, he had the tour bus drop him off at his grandparents' house on a quiet residential block in Stratford. He pulled his suitcase out from the bays of the bus and dragged it into his room, where he fell onto his old bed—complete with Toronto Maple Leafs sheets—which he noted, felt a lot smaller than it used to. (Note: On the tour bus, he slips into Spider-Man sheets, for those interested.)
Donald Traill / AP Photo
It may be widely believed (or beliebed, if you will) that R&B artist Usher "discovered" a 13-year-old Justin Bieber and signed him to his record label. But as Never Say Never explains, that's not exactly—or even remotely—how Bieber Fever came to sweep the nation. After seeing the aforementioned YouTube video and debatably stalking the tween (even reaching out to his great aunt in Canada somehow), Scooter Braun—who went from party promoter at Emory University to executive director of marketing at So So Def Records at age 20—finally found Bieber's mom. He convinced Mallette to bring Bieber to Atlanta, but upon their arrival, Braun warned him to not talk to the label's director, Jermaine Dupri. Bieber followed the instructions until Usher arrived at the studio. The teen ran up to his idol and said, "I'm one of your biggest fans. Can I sing one of your songs to you?" But Usher did not give him the opportunity. Eventually—with Braun's help—the singer came around to his protégé and helped him earn some YouTube credibility.
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Despite his bony physique, the nearly 17-year-old Bieber has a typically voracious (and not particularly healthy) appetite. He pops a few SweeTarts before taking the stage and though he is willing to forgo Chicken McNuggets for the sake of his vocal cords (which are apparently inflamed by fried food), he cannot pass up a doughnut—not even if it's in the trash. When he walks by an open box of Dunkin' Donuts sitting atop a garbage can, Bieber picks one up and takes a bite, much to the disgust of the general manager of his tour, Allison Kaye. "But I put them in there!" he protests. Kaye proceeds to explain why that doesn't make it OK to consume them.
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Say what you will about his cocky hair swishes and overt stage flirtation, but Bieber is remarkably conscious of the fragility of his position—he knows that he could lose everything far more quickly than the amount of time it took him to achieve it. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Bieber listened to Madonna say of Michael Jackson, "We took away his childhood." He looked at Braun and said, "Don't let that happen to me." And he is very much a teenage boy. Besides his unsanitary eating habits, he wrestles with his crew and tries to operate forklifts backstage. But Bieber also knows it's not just about fun. The only point in Never Say Never when he wasn't wearing his signature ear-to-ear grin is when inflamed vocal cords force Bieber to cancel a show in Syracuse. The young performer has done multiple shows with a broken foot and letting down his fans seems to be his biggest fear.
Brad Barket / AP Photo
In August 2009, Bieber attended Taylor Swift's sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden. It was a first for the country artist and for Bieber as well—he'd never before stepped foot inside the famed New York venue. The then-15-year-old singer's first single "One Time" had just hit the Billboard charts, but he already had big plans: He told Braun he would, like Swift, sell out the Garden in a year. And just over four months later, he managed to put his plan into motion. "SOLD OUT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN!! CANT STOP THINKING ABOUT IT!! U GUYS DID THIS FOR ME!! THANK U THANK U THANK U," Bieber tweeted in December. Tickets for the August 2010 show at the Garden went in just 22 minutes and despite still dealing with inflamed vocal cords at the time, the pop star took the stage with a bevy of talent backing him.
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Just as he convinced Usher to give him a shot, Bieber has earned the respect of other big names in the hip-hop world. Usher brought Bieber to legendary record exec L.A. Reid, who was impressed. Reid called Bieber "the Macaulay Culkin of music" and admitted he's never seen an artist garner such a rabid fanbase. Bieber also recorded a duet with Ludacris ("Baby"), who, along with Drake and Snoop Dogg, was there with Bieber at the Garden in August. But the D-O-Double G does have one recommendation for the burgeoning legend: "Get yourself some pigtails with some accessories at the end so the girls can play with them."
Manny Hernandez / AP Photo
Considering that Jesus is stereotypically the first one thanked in a Grammy winner's acceptance speech, it's no surprise that Bieber says grace before eating pizza with friends in Stratford. It is, however, worthy of a jaw drop when hearing him utter a Hebrew prayer before taking the stage each night on tour. Bieber and his close-knit circle of friends, family, and crew bow their heads and say, "Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Ehad," which translates to "Hear, oh Israel: The lord is our god, the lord is one." Though he is not Jewish, Braun is. "Originally Justin and the crew just did a prayer circle before the show that ended with Jesus Christ. I wasn't into that," Braun explained to The Jewish Journal. He and some of the other Jewish tour members started saying the "Shema," which is one of the most important prayers in Judaism, and eventually, everyone started chiming in. Braun even won over Bieber's mother, who told The New York Times back in 2009, "I prayed, ‘God, you don't want this Jewish kid to be Justin's man, do you?'" The Never Say Never scene in which they say the prayer was originally left out of the film, Braun says—until Mallette insisted it was included. Insert obligatory Never Say Never joke here.
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