Paul Rudd has said that getting a chance to work in Ireland again was one of the main reasons he agreed to star in new Irish musical comedy Power Ballad.
Directed by Dubliner John Carney, the film was filmed in and around Dublin and sees Ant-Man star and confirmed Hibernophile Rudd playing Rick Power, a past-his-prime wedding singer who meets fading boyband star Danny (Nick Jonas) during a gig.
However, when Danny turns one of Rick's songs into the hit that reignites his career, Rick sets out to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserves.
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment, Rudd (57) said, "I play a guy who was in a band when he was younger. He was on tour, stopped in Dublin for a show, met a girl, things happened and as it turns out, his rock `n' roll days are not as he predicted they would be . . .
"Cut to fifteen years later and Rick is now living in Dublin and singing in a wedding band."
Asked why he chose to make Power Ballad out of the many script offers he receives, Rudd said, "I am such a fan of John’s and I love all of his films and I loved the idea of being able to work in Ireland, which I have done previously but never for this good, long stretch of time.
"I loved the script and the idea of doing something I hadn’t done before, that was a little intimidating and I wanted to give it a go."
"Plus, he thought I was John Crowley, the guy who directed Brooklyn," Carney said. "On the first day, Paul said to me, 'I loved Brooklyn!’ and I said, ‘that’s John Crowley’."
"I was so nervous on that first day, I’d completely forgot about that conversation," Rudd said.
The film was written by Carney and I Went Down star Peter McDonald, who is also part of the cast alongside fellow Irish actors Rory Keenan, Beth Fallon, Keith McErlean, Carney’s wife Marcella Plunkett, Jack Reynor, Sophie Vavasseur, and Naoimh Whelton.
Carney (53), who was a member of Dublin band The Frames in the early nineties, is no stranger to movies with a musical theme and it’s been a constant refrain in his work. His previous films include Once, starring his former bandmate Glen Hansard, Sing Street, and Begin Again.
"I’ve made a couple of films which are basically boy meets girl," the director said. "But I’ve found that if I want to keep making musical films it can’t just be ‘boy meets girl, they put on a show, they have a setback and they triumph at the end’.
"You’ve got to get past that but I still want to do musical stories so I push myself a little bit and think, ‘there are so many different singer songwriters and musicians in the world. It’s not always A Star is Born. What about the guy who’s the wedding singer? And what about the guy from the boyband, who is now failing?’
"They are still really interesting and valid stories but I get to put songs in them, which is the key for me."
Asked if he saw Power Ballad as a bittersweet revenge movie, Rudd said, "Yes, I think so. Everything Rick does is coming from a very real place. Whenever you put yourself out there in some way and people respond, it’s an incredible feeling, people tell me.
"The frustration of people not knowing it’s you, it’s no even a question of ego; it’s identity and to have that happen after years of frustration, I can only imagine how painful that could be."
Carney added, "To be told ‘no’ and to be disappointed after a decade is sooooo good for you! I have small kids now and anytime they’re disappointed, you’re heartbroken for them and you want to blanket over the disappointment or fix it and then you look back at your life and you think, I’m so glad the door got slammed in my face so many times.
"It’s not even big things - it’s not being picked for the team and you’re standing there in your shorts. That’s good for you! It makes you figure things out. It’s character building."
Power Ballad is in cinemas this Friday.
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