It is a very common story in Hollywood or in the music world. You create or compose a song, and before you know it, somebody hears it, steals it, and claims it as their own.
Such is the story in the musical comedy film written-directed-and-produced by John Carney, “Power Ballad” starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas.
Rudd, 57, portrays Rick Power, an American lead singer in a Dublin-based wedding band, The Bride and Groove. He has given up on his dream of headlining Madison Square Garden after marriage and having a kid with his Irish girlfriend.
One day at a castle wedding where the band was invited to perform, he meets famous singer Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas), who befriends him. One night after hanging out together, Power shares his composition, which he wrote for his daughter Aja when she was a baby entitled “How to Write a Song (Without You).”
Six months later, Wilson releases the song as his own, and it becomes a big hit. Power overhears it in a mall PA while shopping and is enraged and tries to go after Wilson to make him admit he stole the song from Power.
In an exclusive interview with Rudd, we talked more about making the movie, working with Jonas and director Carney. We also talked with Nick Jonas and filmmaker Carney at a global press conference.
Paul Rudd (Rick Power)
Congratulations on being part of Power Ballad. There were two scenes that really stood out for me. The one is the duet with Nick Jonas and your fighting scene with him. So, can you talk about those two scenes and working with Nick?
Do you mean the duet where we’re singing Stevie Wonder and on stage? Well, it’s a daunting task to have to sing with Nick Jonas, who’s a professional singer. And then to do it singing a Stevie Wonder song just added more stress to the equation. But it was also very fun to do.
I like to play music. I like to sing in the way that everyone does. And my guitar playing, while I played guitar for many years, I’m not the guitarist that is so proficient that people go like, “Oh, man. Play some guitar. We want to hear you play guitar.”
I play a lot, but I tend to play on my own.
I was aware, when we were sitting around, and coming up with stuff and songs, and certain scenes, I didn’t want to hold anybody up. I just hoped for the best. And being around real musicians, like John is a real musician, obviously. He’d have guitars at Video Village. He would just be watching scenes and strumming.
Obviously, Nick is a great singer and always singing. I would like to think that just being around that ups your game. You have to rise to the occasion. I don’t know if I rose to the occasion, but I felt like instead of using this as something that would be intimidating, I really made a mental note to go, “Oh, no. Join in.” And they were certainly nice enough and welcoming enough and made me feel as if I could hang in the room.
And regarding the fight scene, it was also really cathartic because everything led up to that. The first scenes I shot with Nick were the first scenes you see in the film of us together. So, we were getting to know each other during those scenes, and then to finally get to act with him again, because most of the movies were apart and have it been the crux of the conflict was fun to let it all hang out.
How was your collaboration with director John Carney? Did you make suggestions on the songs?
We talked about songs that a wedding band might sing. I did suggest a few, a couple of which are in the movie. “Celebration” was one. “Lady in Red” was Red”. We recorded, but it did not make the final cut. But working with John was a real pleasure and honor. Besides being a big fan of his, the way he works was really interesting and collaborative, and to be a part of that was great.
What would be your favorite wedding party song?
I don’t know if I have a favorite wedding party song. I think that, if my own, dark humor, it would be a song that’s probably inappropriate for a wedding. I would like the most, like a slow dance to “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt. That’s the first one that comes to mind. It’s not necessarily a wedding song and/or “Divorce” by Tammy Wynette. Yeah, I’d like to go to a wedding where they played those songs.
As a father yourself, what would you advise your children when it comes to fighting for what are rightfully theirs?
Well, I would always encourage them to fight the good fight in all aspects of life. I think that’s such an open-ended thing. What’s rightfully theirs… it would depend on what it is. Who are you fighting against, and what is the upside versus the downside?
Film director Wim Wenders used to say that rock and roll saves lives. In what way do you think rock serves as a pain reliever for Rick?
Oh, man. Music more than anything really has that thing that makes us feel sane. That makes us feel seen.
When you’re so sad, listening to music can save you. I don’t think Wim Wenders is being hyperbolic there. And when it comes to the actual performance of it, for a guy like Rick who’s a musician, it’s who he is. It’s what he does. And the number of times I think, even in my life, like when I’m really feeling something, or I’m stressed out about something, I’ll just pick up a guitar. It’s a nice escape.
If you’re feeling something, a musician like Rick who’s really feeling something profound, the only thing he can do is write about it. Turn it into something. So, it’s grounding. It’s the thing that kind of tethers us to the world while simultaneously letting us soar above it. Ooh, that sounds pretty poetic, doesn’t it?
Nick Jonas (Danny Wilson)
Nick, you’ve talked about drawing on your own experiences from around 2014 and 2015 for this role. The period when the Jonas Brothers had split, and you were figuring out what you were going to do as a solo artist. Danny Wilson, on paper, is a character in trouble. He’s fading, he’s uncertain, he needs a hit.
And watching you play him; you bring real dignity to it. So, how did you make sure when you were reaching back into that period in your own life that you were finding the truth in it rather than the pain, which I think is the thing that overwhelms many of us in a time of transition?
Great question. I think that the script was so rich and had so much heart that it was fairly easy to dive in and find this guy, instead of leaning into the thing that makes him imperfect.
The fact that he, in essence, steals this song or takes it and doesn’t give the credit. I tried to focus on the growing anxiety and the layers beneath it that were causing this stress, in addition to this desire to find himself. I’ve said a few times about this story and this script that I actually think Rick and Danny are more alike than we might even think in that they both, kind of, ask the question, how far would you go to get everything you ever wanted and at what cost?
And I love the parallel paths that they’re on to prove that they’re enough. And that human journey and the humanity in that part of it allowed me to find this character pretty quickly. Yes, my own experiences did definitely help give me the context needed.
Is there a lyric to a song or a favorite lyric that you have that makes you think about a special time in your life that you enjoy reliving when you hear it?
Yeah. There are so many.
But the one that comes to mind is my childhood in New Jersey, and our dad had a CD book in the car, in our Windstar minivan. And the Beatles’ “Number Ones” was in there. And the lyric, specifically, that stands out, “when I find myself in times of trouble, Mary Mother speaks to me, whisper words of wisdom, let it be,” always hits me to my core. And then, a few years later, in my teen years, watching “Across the Universe” and seeing that music being taken and explored in so many different ways was really a profound experience for me, as it was for so many.
I love the scene where you and Paul’s character start to jam musically and organically. This beautiful music begins to arise.
Can you share a similar moment where you didn’t plan to create music, maybe, but the moment just demanded it?
There have been so many moments like that. Oftentimes, it’ll be a scenario where a friend comes over, and we’re hanging out, and it’s meant to just be that. And then, someone starts playing a piano riff or a guitar riff, and it sort of naturally flows into that. I love moments like that and never apply pressure to go, okay, now that we’re writing a song, let’s try to write a hit. It’s just let’s just write something that feels good in this moment and follow the vibe and see where it takes us.
Have hits emerged from that process of it just starting organically rather than you sitting down to write very intentionally?
Absolutely. There have been many times where I just sit around, especially with my brothers. Obviously, we spend a lot of time together just hanging out. We’re applying no pressure and just enjoying time together. And then, a spark of an idea will come, and it sets the stage. When you approach it intending to write a hit, it never works out.
More often than not, nine times out of 10 at least, the pressure does not foster a better creative environment.
John Carney (Director, Writer, Producer)
John, what is it that you’ve tapped into that keeps hitting us in our feelings? And what is it about the power of music that keeps you coming back to it?
I think that the reason — because I never set out to make anyone cry, I’m not particularly a sentimental guy in reality.
So, to answer your question, I think that it must be that music affected me when I was young numerous times and throughout many years in that way. Music was straight intravenous to my heart. I didn’t have to really listen to the lyrics. I got moved in a very deep way as a kid numerous times.
I think to answer your question, maybe it’s trying to relive that feeling of uplift and positivity that I had on my bicycle, listening to, oh God, so many songs on my brother’s Walkman, cycling into school when the bicycle would take off like ET, and you fly into school on it because of the music you were listening to.
Or, listening to Tom Waits on tape to cry over some girl that you love who was breaking your heart when you were like 12, and you identified as an old man already, like Tom Waits or something. I think my movies work in that — or our tear-jerkers emotionally work because I’m maybe trying to relive those experiences, which you can only really live through music.
The title, “How to Write a Song (Without You)”, feels like it could be the film’s thesis. When you and Gary Clark are writing together, how do you know when a song has earned its place in the story? And when is it just a good song?
That’s a really good question. I think that Gary and I have worked on three or four projects together, and we finish each other’s sentences musically a little bit.
He improves my sentences, but we both know where we want to go with these things. It was Gary’s great lyrics. That’s his lyrics. And “How to Write a Song (Without You)” comes after the movie. He was just hit by that nice little poetic moment where it’s like the older, we become, we’re not writing songs for people anymore because we’re married or we have kids and we have mortgages to pay. It’s our job. But how do we continue to do it if the person that we started with isn’t there?
And I find that a very interesting question. And you’re right. I think it taps into the whole idea of the movie, which is like family and kids and, like that. You know why you’re writing songs when you’re 20. It’s pretty straightforward. You’re trying to get the girl or get the guy. You’re trying to punch the air. You’re trying to tell people in school to go screw them. These pretty simple dynamics. They become a lot — They should become a lot more complex as you get older. So, we were writing more about how do I continue this job of songwriting now that I’m married and I have mouths to feed? And it’s an interesting idea.
