Talking about the shoot to NME, ATL lead singer Alex Gaskarth told NME the chimp was a mixed bag to work with. “He was great the whole shoot, but there was one point where he got over what he was doing and threw a chimpanzee temper tantrum and went tearing off around the club where we were filming. In the TikTok, Gilli says, “In 2008, I played Maria in All Time Low’s Dear Maria, Count Me In video,” showing off a video of her cuddling the chimp she starred alongside in the video. Gilli Messer played Maria in the iconic 2008 video, and she's taken to TikTok to reveal she's still got one of the props from the shoot. Photo from All Time Low's YouTube channel.Īll Time Low's music video for Dear Maria, Count Me In is iconic for a few reasons, including the actress who played Maria. “We did community yoga events with optional donations and then would gift all proceeds to Austin non-profits”, she added.All Time Low. Aside from that, a close friend runs a grassroots organization, Austin Yoga Meetup, that I managed with her before the pandemic.” One is very medically needy, that’s the main reason I’m a stay-at-home parent. So what is the legend behind the song up to today? Maria told Buzzfeed: “Life for me now is mostly mom stuff. I feel like they’re expecting the scene queen I was when this all happened years ago.” I don’t wear makeup, I’m home even pre-pandemic. I think people will have this expectation and scroll through my social media and think, ‘no way,’ because I’m that person that just does the bare minimum for posts. When asked about the All Time Low emo anthem now, Maria mentioned to Buzzfeed: “ I find it untimely. To confirm that she really was telling the truth, Maria even reached out to Zack Merrick, the bassist for All Time Low, who she said she was the closest to, and he even confirmed that she really was the original Maria behind their hit song. So, a year later, when I decided to dance and they found out when I disclosed it at a party, it just shocked everyone”, she said. “ I’m surprisingly a very introverted person.

The real Maria confirmed to Buzzfeed that the story was indeed true. So why did All Time Low feel the need to write a song about Maria? In an interview in 2020 with American Songwriter, the band’s lead singer Alex Gaskarth explained that the band was inspired to dedicate a song to “Maria” after she became a dancer at some of the local clubs in the Baltimore area. What inspired All Time Low to write the song? There’s not much, but…’ and then disclosed the iconic intro and chorus.” dearmariacountmein dearmariachallenge dancer striptok Matt Flyzik texted me one evening and said, ‘Hey, Alex is writing a song about you. She recalled to Buzzfeed: “I did actually know about the song while it was being written. It didn’t matter how many people or who was playing the same groups always showed up, and All Time Low was part of that group.”īefore the song was even released though, Maria confirmed that she actually knew a song about her was in the works. Maria said: “ All of us were in this huge circle of friends, and every weekend there were shows. Recently, she took to TikTok to admit years after the song’s release that she was actually the inspiration behind the song that made the band famous.Īccording to Buzzfeed, Maria explained that she knew the band when they were younger while living in Baltimore, Maryland. So who is the original Maria that inspired the All Time Low anthem? Well everyone, meet Maria from Austin, Texas, who’s a thirty-five-year-old mother & yogi. Maria is a real person! Years after the release of the song, THE real Maria has stepped forward and claimed she was the actual inspiration behind the song, and told her own version of the story. While we all can probably sing along to every single lyric in this All Time Low hit, do you also know the backstory behind this song? Well, to all the fellow emo & pop punk kids, we’ve got some exciting news for you. The song has over 236 million streams on Spotify, and has gone down as one of the most pivotal anthems of the emo & pop punk era of the 2000s. While all the pop punk kids have (fortunately) grown up since then, we have to admit it was a pretty iconic era.Įven if you never had a full-on pop punk phase, we’re sure that if you grew up in the 2000s, you’re familiar with the band All Time Low, and more specifically, their hit single “Dear Maria, Count Me In”. Long were the days since Vans Warped Tour, teen angst, angry finger pointing to jaded lyrics at shows, feeling like nobody understood you, and most importantly: “ it’s not a phase, mom ”. If you weren’t part of the punk pop revolution that happened in the late nineties to mid-2000s, then you’ve definitely missed out. By: Joyce Chang “Dear Maria, Count Me In”: Have All Time Low fans found the real Maria?

Dear maria count me in