Hugh Jackman And Kate Hudson Discuss The True Story Behind 'Song Sung Blue' ｜ The View

Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson are magnificent in the fantastic new movie Song Sung Blue. It's inspired by the true story of Midwest musicians who find love and follow their dreams by starting a Neil Diamond tribute band. Take a look. You know Neil is special and I just want everyone to get that feeling I get when I listen to America and Forever Blue Jeans. Sweet Caroline. Sweet Caroline yeah but I'm never gonna be the real McCoy I mean I don't really look like Neil I don't even really sound like Neil and I'm I gotta be Neil but I've just got to be me too. Yeah you don't want to be a Neil Diamond impersonator you want to be a Neil Diamond interpreter. I was looking for the right way to say it and you just came right out and said it. I just walked out to Song Sung Blue one of the many Neil Diamond songs featured in the movie. You're getting a lot of buzz. I just I just have to say this to me and I told you this this is some of the best work I've ever seen either one of you done. Spectacular and because it you know it is not a Neil Diamond biopic. People for some reason have this idea in their head but it is a it is a love letter to him so you were just nominated for Goldie Globe. Based on a true story tell tell people why start with you Hugh tell people why you decided to do this. I saw the documentary the writer director Craig sent me that and I said yes before the script was written because I people would say to me all the time like what are you doing next and I put 30 minutes I'll tell them about this story about real people living struggling working class lives who wanted to be entertainers and they just it's this beautiful love story these two people found each other they found some magic as performers they never let go of their dream but somehow the two of them stuck by each other through the most incredible I don't want to even give away what happens to them I thought it was this underdog story that just made me feel positive and inspired and I loved it. I got to read the script for the first time without knowing it was a true story and then after I read it I called the director and I was like did all of this happen to this couple he's like everything and so it's just amazing and then as an actor you get to do everything that I love in one movie yeah and one film. Singing your behind off. Yes I was going to say you both sing extensively in this movie and you sound great together oh incredible you sound great together now you say you really started to get to know each other in the recording booth at the start of filming when did you get the sense that that chemistry was there that that this was going to work this well well actually we were the director put us in a little on a little sofa and we had two mics in front of us so we actually got to know each other singing kind of like this yeah which was like kind of like an awkward first date and then we you know and then we had to find the harmonies because Neil Diamond's music is you know it's Neil Diamond and so we had to find the duet in these songs and and so we kind of got it was like our first time working together in a vulnerable setting and it was really easy. I remember just the goosebumps on my arm I could because I hate hearing myself but I was listening a bit to myself but as soon as Kate started singing with I felt this these goosebumps and that's when I sort of knew and I thought we were just rehearsing but that was actually the take. I have to say I watched I've been waiting to see it since Whoopi came back to work talking about it because even when Whoopi loves something she doesn't gush she doesn't overdo it she's like it was good yeah she gushed and she so I've been waiting and waiting to see this and it did not disappoint but without spoiling anything this couple had as you alluded to some pretty extreme highs and lows throughout their journey and Mike Sardina is no longer with us but Claire was at the premiere yeah what did this movie mean to her? Oh the whole family I mean so much oh wow I mean oh there she is I mean she's just I mean they're all so they're so happy it just means so much to them and it meant so much to us I mean to take care of their story they're they're really wonderful people and they trusted us you know with with their life and I think they feel that that we honored it and and Claire is just so but you know the best part of that was we sang at the premiere yeah and seeing her on stage with she has so much joy when she sings oh oh she was oh I can't take it and see the I don't know if you can see the waistcoat I'm wearing that was given to me by Claire that was Mike's so Mike and on the last day of shooting she gave that to me. You know the movie reminds you of how many great songs Neil Diamond actually did. Were you fans before you took the job? I was a fan but I didn't know half of the songs and some of the ones the famous ones Red Red Wine there's so many songs I didn't know he wrote. Did you meet him at all? Yeah yeah I well I grew up in Colorado and he lives like 10 minutes from us but never met him in like 35 years and so I called and I was like can I come over and I sat on the porch with him we drank lemonade and we chatted and he loves the movie so much and then I I sent the picture to Hugh and he was like I'm gonna go to Colorado. Absolutely. In competitive I had to up it from lemonade to karaoke and dinner. I did invite myself to stay. What do you mean you slept over? Never invite an Australian for dinner or a cup of coffee. Never leave. By the way you don't have to be a Neil Diamond fan because I didn't go in thinking I was but I left a Neil Diamond fan and now I'm listening to songs but you two also made quite the scene at a New York City bar the other night performing Neil Diamond hits including Sweet Caroline. We have a clip. This is your bar where you I'm one of the smaller owners of that bar but it's great it's called Old Mates and Kate and I when we were doing this movie we're promoting we wanted to go to we've been to Milwaukee we've been to Indiana to the spirit of the movie is people get up and sing because they want to get up and sing and it doesn't matter if it's a Thai restaurant at a wedding at a bar mitzvah in a pub. Pearl Jam. It doesn't have to be Madison Square Garden there's thousands and thousands of awesome brilliant musicians every time I tell you every time you walk into a lobby of a hotel and someone's playing on the piano go up and say thanks you're awesome that's sort of the spirit of the movie that's why we wanted to go to pubs yeah and also I can get a free beer at my own pub. Well you know what we're gonna go and we'll be back with more with Hugh and Kate but we wanted to let you all know that thanks to Fandango and Focus Features everyone in this audience is going home with a pair of tickets to