Song Sung Blue star Hugh Jackman has said Dublin audiences are "the best" out of all the places he has performed around the world.
The much-loved Australian actor and singer and Hollywood star Kate Hudson lead director Craig Brewer's musical drama Song Sung Blue, which is based on the astonishing true story of Mike and Claire Sardina, a down-on-their-luck couple who performed as the Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder.
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment alongside Hudson and Brewer, Jackman, who brought his The Man. The Music. The Show. world tour to Dublin's 3Arena in May 2019, said he would bring his Song Sung Blue collaborators on a road trip if they visited Ireland together.
"I just did a film in Belfast, which I just loved, and we filmed all around, and that was incredible," Jackman said. "But I have performed in Dublin, and of all the places I've been to in the world, that's the best audience. Now I'm going to annoy everyone in the world!"
His co-star Hudson interjected: "I love Ireland. The west coast is so beautiful", while director Brewer, known for his films Hustle & Flow and Dolemite Is My Name, said he was inspired by an iconic 90s Irish movie while making Song Sung Blue.
"I would like to specifically give a shout out to the film that I studied that was really inspirational to Song Sung Blue - a movie called The Commitments. It's just one of my favorite films," he enthused.
The less you know about the incredible true story behind Song Sung Blue before you see it the better. Brewer was inspired to bring the tale to the big screen when he watched Greg Kohs' 2008 documentary of the same name.
"I was sitting in an audience of about four people and I just fell in love with the Sardinas. I fell in love with their struggles - I was inspired by them. And I remember sitting there thinking, 'This is a movie'," he said.
"A movie that could have all the things that I love - a lot of music, but also just about real people, working-class people that are fighting for what they want in life.
"We used to have a lot of movies like that and I think we've kind of gotten away from them. I thought it was a great opportunity to tell a really great, American dream story."
Jackman didn't hesitate to board the project despite often being "very indecisive".
"I remember Craig and I talking and I watched the documentary, there wasn't a script then. I was like, 'I'm in'," he shared.
"Then the script came in and took it to another whole level. I love this underdog story. I love Mike - I love his relentlessness, his drive, his need to perform, and the way he loved this woman. I just love that love story."
Hudson in particular has garnered significant awards chatter for her powerful performances as Claire Sardina. She was nominated in the Best Female Actor – Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy category at the Golden Globes, which are considered a major precursor for the Oscars.
The actor and singer, who released her debut studio album Glorious in 2024, said she and Brewer "always wanted to work together".
"You don't read scripts like this very often. To be able to do all of these things in one movie, as an actor and as a singer, is just a dream - I mean, it does not come around very often," she said.
"The thing for me was that I knew Craig could execute something like this, something that could so easily go in another direction if in the wrong hands. I was just so grateful that it came along and we did it."
The film hinges on their incredible vocal performances, which saw Jackman and Hudson singing live together in many of the film's beautifully executed concert scenes.
Jackman, acclaimed for his roles on screen and on stage, including the musicals Les Misérables and The Greatest Showman, admitted that he felt some nerves before he and Hudson sang together for the first time, saying "in a way it mirrors Mike and Claire".
"Mike revered Claire's voice and loved it, and that's how I feel about Kate's voice," he said. "So I was pretty nervous."
"I did get kept behind at recording sessions for a little remedial recording time!," he added with a laugh.
"I was nervous too!", Hudson responded. "I love meeting people, I'm not nervous to meet somebody, but I didn't know how we would connect.
"Is he gonna want to be intimate and connect? I'm super tactile, I'll sit on his lap right away! And I was like, 'How's this gonna go down? And how are our voices gonna sound together?'
"You don't know any of these things. And it was immediately just easy and fun. He's an Aussie. He's easy."
Neil Diamond rang Jackman in tears after watching the movie for the first time. His seal of approval was of utmost importance for the actors and director.
"It's a love letter to him and his music and the power of it, so of course we wanted that approval. But he always loved Mike and Claire's story," Jackman explained.
"He said to me, 'Remember, I'm a kid from Brooklyn, I didn't know I was gonna be Neil Diamond. I'd be Mike - I'd be playing at the bar. So he gets it."
"Neil Diamond and [Pearl Jam frontman] Eddie Vedder have been really the champions of Mike and Claire Sardina," Brewer added.
"From the documentary to our feature film, we would not have been able to make this movie without Neil Diamond giving us his blessing and also giving us the catalogue for us to choose from.
"I think it's really admirable that these two major musicians, these two big stars, have really turned up and shown up for two people that were just really great fans."
Song Sung Blue is out in cinemas on 1 January.
