There is no better actors for making beautiful music together as Kate Hudson and Jeremy Allen White. Hudson took Hollywood by storm at age 20 as the hippie muse in Cameron Crowe’s film “Almost Famous.” And this year, she turns in the best turn of her career in “Song Sung Blue” as one half of a Neil Diamond tribute band whose true story is as uplifting as it is heartbreaking. White, stepping out of his apron as “The Bear” boss, takes on the formidable task of portraying Bruce Springsteen at his most emotionally vulnerable and artistically free in “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.” Here they talk about tight jeans, classical guitars and the rules of romantic comedy.
Kate Hudson: Jeremy, I want to talk to you about wearing these Bruce Springsteen jeans.
Jeremy Allen White: Very comfortable.
Hudson: Oh yeah. How did you feel when you first put them on?
White: I felt like I had to stop eating. It was all very useful to me – the boots, the jeans, the jackets. It was tight and really influenced the physique. It ruined my posture. Bruce also gave us clothes he wore as a young man, some of his current pieces.
Hudson: Did you keep any?
White: No, I haven’t talked about it yet because it’s very precious, but he gave me his Saint Christopher medal which he had had for a very long time. And he gave me a guitar to learn to play, a 1955 Gibson J 200.
Hudson: It’s my favorite. I have the same guitar. We both have musical films this year, with some pretty iconic names.
White: Giants.
Hudson: I didn’t delve deeply into Neil Diamond’s catalog before making this film. But Springsteen?
White: Same for me. I really knew Bruce, like everyone else, but I hadn’t heard “Nebraska.”
Hudson: You haven’t done it? “Nebraska” was really personal to me.
Alexi Lubomirski for Variety
White: It was the same for a lot of musicians I spoke to when I first started prep. Many had this album in their top five.
Hudson: How did you feel approaching Bruce’s most artistic album?
White: From a technical standpoint, I was lucky, because very few chords were used on “Nebraska.” But also in the sense that he’s so honest in all his music. There is so much specificity in his writing. The canvas of “Nebraska” is so rich in himself and his experience. It was like I had a map.
Hudson: How involved was Bruce in this film?
White: Bruce gave our director, Scott Cooper, the green light to make this film, but he did nothing during the writing process. I met him first in London, at Wembley, I was invited to do sound checks. He brought me on stage before everyone else arrived. We spent a few weeks together, and then he was on set all the time, which we didn’t know before.
Hudson: The pressure.
White: Yeah. I talked about it a lot: I did all my [character] choice before introducing myself, then I felt that I had to hang on once there. I find that I’m not super flexible when I’m on set, am I?
Hudson: The day? I’m probably the opposite. I do a lot of work in the beginning and I have learned that I have to let go of everything and be available and flexible.
White: I should probably try this.
Hudson: I don’t know. You’re doing pretty well, Jeremy. Stay true to what you do. What you did in this film was wonderful, as someone who has been writing songs my whole life. It made me emotional because the songwriting process can be torturous. You have internalized everything.
White: You are so excellent in “Song Sung Blue”. You are charismatic in everything you do, but there is such joy here. Even in times when it’s hard to find, there’s always a little optimism in you. On the other end of the spectrum, I was so internal. I have my head down and you are this radiant light on the set. Do you move with this energy all the time?
Hudson: I think that in life, I choose to like to face it every day with energy and optimism. I’m trying to set this up. Maybe it has to do with the way I grew up. I really love being in the circus. I’m not an actor who fits into a hole in my trailer. Even if I’m having a rough day, you become extremely sharp in those moments when you need to feel or channel something.
White: Has your process changed much over time?
Hudson: This changes for each job. When I was younger, I was incredibly spontaneous. I work well with people who throw bullshit at me. I also like comedy. This side of me likes to have new ideas all the time and not repeat myself too much. But when I started working with different actors that I learned from and admire, you steal stuff. Are you doing this?
White: I try, yeah.
Hudson: I will never forget watching Naomi Watts’ script [for “Le Divorce”]. I saw his grades and I was like, “Well, I’m really underperforming. »
White: You should see Jeremy Strong’s screenplay.
Hudson: You need to remove that highlighter. Determine: “Who is this person to me? » But Naomi was so dedicated to her craft. I was like, “Let’s have some wine, smoke some cigarettes, and party on the spot in Paris.” » She sat at home and knew her lines.
White: But would you have done it differently? Or did you feel like it fueled you in the way you needed to finish?
Alexi Lubomirski for Variety
Hudson: What I learned from Naomi is that it’s okay to take risks in your choices. I have a friend who worked with Cate Blanchett and had a similar experience.
White: I want to ask you about your music, which is obviously an important component of “Song Sung Blue,” but does music still play a role in your work?
Hudson: Huge. Certain songs evoke certain emotions for me. I’m pretty good at accessing emotions, I’m not going to lie. I can cry all the time. But when I can’t make it, there are songs. In fact, “My Father’s House” from “Nebraska” is one of those songs.
White: It was my north star. If I ever felt lost or unsettled, or didn’t know what a certain scene was or where Bruce was, it grounded me. When I recorded this song [for the film]it was the first time I felt really close to Bruce.
Hudson: Sometimes I take an earwig. If there’s a scene I’m doing that needs energy, I’ll ask for one and just make sound.
White: It’s so nice.
Hudson: Try this one. Since you didn’t know “Nebraska” very well, did you listen to the whole album? On Spotify or never on vinyl?
White: I listened to it once on vinyl. I was in Chicago. Scott told me to turn off the lights, lay down and let it go. This was before I even read the script. I had met Scott and talked about working together, but he didn’t mention Springsteen at all. He told me to listen to the record before having a script.
Hudson: What was the first song?
White: The title track is the first song, and it is wonderful. I don’t want to sell any of the songs short. “Highway Patrolman,” the storytelling is so great. It’s the last piece that stuck with me the longest. This is the “Reason to Believe”. I like singing this song the most. I see real romance there.
Hudson: Did this make you want to write music?
White: No.
Hudson: Come on.
White: No not at all. If anything, it made me realize that the writing on this record is so good it was intimidating. I remember, in preparation, writing his words over and over again. Not for memorization, but for shared experience [with the character].
Hudson: It’s so funny how life works. Just yesterday I was with Cameron Crowe. He brought out this book called “The Uncool,” and I went and did a Q&A with him. He was telling this random story, about David Bowie. He was interviewing Bowie once, and he kept talking about this artist, this young kid from Jersey who he thought was going to be great. He loved his words. It’s cool that we’re connected these extraordinary people in music and then representing certain things on screen?
White: Did you spend time with Claire Sardina?
Hudson: Not really. Our director Craig Brewer was invaluable in ensuring that I didn’t spend too much time with Claire. He wanted me to do my own thing and stick to the character as he wrote it.
White: It’s devastating. It’s one of those movies where you go to your phone and search like, “Surely that’s not how that happened.” But deep down, it’s a film full of hope. You look at all this tragedy and then you’re sort of inspired by the courage of these people.
Hudson: The power of escape and the joy of music. Our films are different but they are stories about music saving people. In the case of our film, it was about a musician who didn’t have the opportunity to become a celebrity. They did it because they love it.
White: Because they had to. They don’t think about what they’re going to get back.
White: What about “Almost Famous”? This experience is not just a little related to music.
Hudson: I got the role when I was 19. It was a dream. I had already started writing music at 18, but having someone like Cameron as a source of musical information? It blew my mind and my life was turned upside down. I have to ask, would you ever consider doing a romantic comedy?
White: I would love to. I’ve never made these before but they look so fun.
Hudson: They are harder than you think. The rules are different. You want to do it so people will show up to see it. They also want to get something out of it. They want to feel, to laugh.
White: I’m worried about finding the right character, because I want it to be a classic romantic comedy. Not a flash in the pan, but “When Harry Met Sally.”
Hudson: One of the greats. It is one of the most difficult genres to master. But it’s a game changer in your life. You can’t imagine how many people you help feel good.
Producer: Emily Ullrich; Agency: Nevermind Agency
