Oprah with Hugh Jackman & Kate Hudson & Their Movie You Have to See this Christmas

Academy Award-nominated actors Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson join The Oprah Podcast to discuss their upcoming extraordinary film Song Sung Blue which will be released in theaters on December 25. Song Sung Blue is a deeply moving love story about dreams and second chances. Based on a true story, Hugh and Kate portray the Milwaukee couple Mike and Claire Sardina, who were the legendary Neil Diamond tribute band duo known as "Lightning & Thunder.” The film is also an homage to Neil Diamond’s beloved catalogue of iconic songs. The podcast was recorded with a live audience who screened the film in New York City. The episode also features a surprise guest from Kate Hudson’s past, a Zoom surprise with viewers in Milwaukee and questions from the audience. Song Sung Blue In theaters everywhere Christmas Day. https://www.focusfeatures.com/song-sung-blue 00:00:00 - Welcome Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, stars of Song Sung Blue 00:00:00 - Song Sung Blue movie preview 00:04:50 - Hugh Jackman on the Lightning and Thunder documentary 00:08:00 - Hugh and Kate react to reviews 00:10:15 - Oprah shares her love for Neil Diamond 00:11:48 - Movie clip 00:13:06 - How Hugh prepared to be a Neil Diamond impersonator 00:14:00 - Neil Diamond’s reaction to the movie 00:16:35 - Kate on her singing role 00:19:50 - On doing a Wisconsin accent 00:22:22 - Oprah surprises Kate Hudson 00:25:00 - Hugh Jackman on working with Kate Hudson 00:26:30 - Movie clip 00:29:50 - How the movie inspires 00:33:50 - The characters struggle with substance abuse 00:34:45 - How Hugh and Kate developed on-screen chemistry 00:39:20 - Hugh on his performance 00:39:55 - Movie clip 00:44:03 - Oprah surprises Lightning and Thunder fans 00:51:58 - Hugh shares Neil Diamond story Song Sung Blue (2008) A Documentary by Greg Kohs http://watch.songsungblue.com Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social: https://www.instagram.com/oprahpodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/ Listen to the full podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

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• 0:30Oprah Winfrey?

  Can we get the whole audience doing Song Song Blue? All right?

• 0:37Oprah Winfrey?

  In other words.

• 0:39Oprah Winfrey?

  Song, song, blue. Everybody knows one. Every garden grows one. Song, song, blue. Every garden grows one.

• 0:57Oprah Winfrey?

  Hi there, everybody. It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Oprah Podcast. And we're in New York City.

• 1:08Oprah Winfrey?

  Thank you, the live audience.

• 1:12Oprah Winfrey?

  And we are all, we're just, we're all jazzed up for our special guest today. You may have heard the buzz. Have you heard the buzz around the upcoming film, Song Song Blue? Let me tell you, it is an extraordinary film based on a true story about a Neil Diamond tribute duo who become local superstars in the Midwest. It's, as I say, it's based on a true story. And I just, I think it's the kind of movie we all need right now. It is so feel-good, it is funny, it is so entertaining, but also a deeply moving love story about dreams and about second chances. And I guarantee you will be singing along

• 1:56Oprah Winfrey?

  to all those iconic Neil Diamond songs after you watch. So this audience just saw the film. Wasn't it great?

• 2:06Oprah Winfrey?

  Wasn't it great?

• 2:10Oprah Winfrey?

  Don't we all just want to go? Song, song. Blue, yes, everybody knows one. Okay. Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson are gonna blow you away in this film. Here's a look.

• 2:24Speaker 03

  I just want to entertain people.

• 2:26Speaker 04

  I don't want to be a hairdresser. I want to sing. I want to dance. I want a garden. I want a cat.

• 2:31Speaker 03

  I need something big. I need something new. What do you think?

• 2:35Speaker 04

  You don't want to be a Neil Diamond impersonator. You want to be a Neil Diamond interpreter.

• 2:40Speaker 03

  We should call ourselves Lightning and Thunder.

• 2:43Speaker 04

  So you be Lightning and I be Thunder.

• 2:47Speaker 03

  Uh, yeah.

• 2:53Speaker 04

  Bravo, how you doing?

• 2:55Speaker 03

  How am I doing?

• 2:57Speaker 04

  You two always know what to do.

• 3:01Speaker 03

  I can't thank Neil because every thank you I got belongs to you, doll. You're my August night, my September morning. You're my cracklin' Rosie.

• 3:11Speaker 03

  I want it to ripple and wave when the wind blows my shirt.

• 3:14Speaker 04

  Wind in a bar? How?

• 3:16Speaker 03

  Like a leaf blower.

• 3:21Oprah Winfrey?

  I love this movie so much. Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. Welcome them to the podcast.

• 3:31Oprah Winfrey?

  Oh, lovely.

• 3:34Oprah Winfrey?

  Hey, babe. Nice to see you. Nice to see you, babe. So good to see you. So good to see you. So good. Oh, so do you guys.

• 3:45Oprah Winfrey?

  May we say, bravo, bravo, bravo, bravo, bravo. I'm so glad you all saw it. Thank you for seeing it. Yes, yes, yes. Thank you. Yes, yes, and your performances are just spectacular, mesmerizing and spectacular. You look amazing, Oprah. Well, thank you. So do you guys. Oh, my gosh. It's been too long since I've seen you. It's been so long, you. I know. Good to see you again. You too. So can you explain to us the story behind Song Song Blue? Well, there's a documentary called Song Song Blue, which tells the true story. Did you all know that? I didn't. I didn't know it until I watched. It's an amazing documentary.

• 4:25Speaker 03

  Somebody saw this duo, Lightning and Thunder, Lightning and Thunder, Mike and Claire, and went, oh, these two are gonna be huge.

• 4:34Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 4:34Speaker 03

  And so he was with them for years, five, eight years, every day. And so captured this incredible true story. So they were two performers, let's say, maybe struggling a little bit. And in some ways, they came together and rescued each other, not just musically, but in life. And it's just a beautiful love story about the power of music, the power of dreams. And you watch these two go on a ride together. And as you can tell, you can't believe what happens. I'm sure people are gonna watch a film, go, well, that didn't happen.

• 5:04Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 5:04Speaker 03

  They made that bit up, but everything is true.

• 5:07Oprah Winfrey?

  Everything is true.

• 5:08Speaker 03

  Everything.

• 5:08Speaker 04

  Everything's true.

• 5:09Oprah Winfrey?

  Wow.

• 5:09Speaker 04

  I know, it's wild.

• 5:10Oprah Winfrey?

  What attracted you to the story? And then what attracted you for her to the story?

• 5:15Speaker 03

  Craig came to me and said, I want you to watch it. This is the writer-director, Craig Brewer.

• 5:19Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 5:19Speaker 03

  Who's incredible. He came to me and said, watch this documentary. I think there's a film in it. And when I saw it, I honestly thought, this is one of the most powerful renderings of what family can do.

• 5:34Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 5:34Speaker 03

  Of what family, the power of family.

• 5:37Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 5:37Speaker 03

  And to, I guess you might say, ordinary, everyday people, but of course, no one is ordinary or everyday. But their dreams were massive and naive and huge. And Mike and Claire stuck together through whatever life was throwing, because life's gonna be life in, right?

• 5:53Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 5:53Speaker 03

  And life comes at them hard. And they just stuck together. And I just thought, this is the kind of story I wanna put out in the world. I think it's the kind of story we need to hear and see and...

• 6:04Oprah Winfrey?

  And when you read it, you felt the same?

• 6:05Speaker 04

  Yeah, and different. I read the script as a script that was out in the world.

• 6:10Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 6:10Speaker 04

  And read it and didn't know it was a documentary.

• 6:13Oprah Winfrey?

  That's right.

• 6:13Speaker 04

  And just the script was so good and so moving, that I kinda had my eyes on it. And then, when Craig called and Hugh, then I saw the documentary. And I was like, oh my God. I had, like, what an amazing adaptation to...

• 6:28Oprah Winfrey?

  But when you even read the script, were you like, wow, this is, this is a role I wanna play?

• 6:32Speaker 04

  Yeah, and a dream for me, you know, to be able to, so like, sort of hoping that...

• 6:36Oprah Winfrey?

  And may I say, you were a dream in it. You are a dream in it.

• 6:41Speaker 04

  Thank you so much.

• 6:44Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 6:48Oprah Winfrey?

  Yes.

• 6:49Speaker 04

  It was really like when you, when you read something like that. And so for, for me, it was like, you just hope that, you know, it's, it becomes a real, a real opportunity.

• 6:58Oprah Winfrey?

  Yes.

• 6:59Speaker 04

  And it did.

• 6:59Oprah Winfrey?

  Okay, and so you were gonna do it, Craig had called you.

• 7:02Speaker 03

  Mm-hmm.

• 7:02Oprah Winfrey?

  So tell this story because you were on CBS Mornings.

• 7:06Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 7:07Oprah Winfrey?

  For a story about your new album.

• 7:09Speaker 04

  Mm-hmm.

• 7:09Oprah Winfrey?

  Right?

• 7:09Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 7:10Oprah Winfrey?

  And you see her on CBS Mornings.

• 7:12Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 7:12Oprah Winfrey?

  And Craig sees her, right?

• 7:13Speaker 03

  Yeah. Actually, Michelle, who's worked with me for 15 years, her sister and niece are here today.

• 7:18Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 7:19Speaker 03

  And she's here somewhere, dying right now. She rang me and said, "Are you watching CBS Sunday?" I said, "I'm not actually." She said, "You gotta watch it. Kate Hudson should be Claire." And I turned it on, I'm like, "She's absolutely right." And I immediately texted Craig Brewer. I said, "You've gotta watch CBS Sunday. Claire is Kate Hudson." Please go, "I'm already invested. Please, please send her the script and please tell her she has to do it." And she didn't.

• 7:44Speaker 04

  Yeah, I was so happy. Because I had read the script before.

• 7:48Oprah Winfrey?

  Yes.

• 7:48Speaker 04

  Yeah, it was great.

• 7:49Speaker 03

  What do you mean? You'd read the script?

• 7:51Speaker 04

  I had been slipped the script.

• 7:52Speaker 03

  Oh, I didn't know that.

• 7:55Speaker 04

  I've got people in places.

• 7:58Speaker 03

  So you did, so maybe it was Kate Hudson putting it out.

• 8:03Speaker 03

  She's a powerful on this one.

• 8:04Speaker 04

  Oh, all a master plan.

• 8:06Oprah Winfrey?

  That's fantastic.

• 8:07Speaker 03

  What else she got planned, Kate Hudson?

• 8:09Oprah Winfrey?

  That's fantastic. So, did you feel the same thing though? That this, it's like a down-on-your-luck guy and woman who were trying to make life meet in the right spaces for themselves.

• 8:23Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 8:23Oprah Winfrey?

  And then this moment happens.

• 8:25Speaker 04

  The thing that hit me the most about the story, there's two things that just got me, which, the first one was that these people believed in each other so much that when they didn't believe in themselves. They could because they had someone else who believed in them. You know, like, you know, I think that this idea that you have this, you build this family and you build, you build your family around you and they are your support system.

• 8:52Oprah Winfrey?

  Well, this is what's so interesting. So many critics are talking about this and already loving it. And I know you don't do things for critics, but one critic said in Variety that it's without qualification, the finest work of her career. What makes Hudson's performance so potent is its refusal to condescend. There's no distance between actress and character. No visible seams in the construction. It's the kind of organic inhabitation that makes you forget you're watching capital A acting at all.

• 9:32Oprah Winfrey?

  That's a review.

• 9:34Speaker 04

  Well, that's hard to hear.

• 9:37Speaker 03

  You gonna start writing reviews now?

• 9:38Speaker 04

  I literally, I said to everyone, I was like, please don't send me anything because I get so nervous about reading reviews. But everyone was like, you have to read what Clayton said in Variety. And it made me very emotional reading that. Yeah, it was the only one I've looked at and I got very emotional.

• 9:55Oprah Winfrey?

  Well, you know, here's the thing. I watched with a friend of mine, a dear, dear friend and neighbor, Marlene Vellos. I had her come over because I didn't want to watch it by myself and Steban wasn't there. And so I said, Marlene, come over and let's watch this, this movie. And when we finished watching, she goes, can we watch it again? Can we watch it again? And during the movie, she goes, oh my God, has Gail seen this? She's gonna love it. I just love it and I can't wait until it opens on Christmas Day.

• 10:20Speaker 04

  Thank you, Oprah. And it made me miss movies.

• 10:23Oprah Winfrey?

  Yes.

• 10:23Speaker 04

  Like, when I...

• 10:24Oprah Winfrey?

  Nobody's making movies like this.

• 10:26Speaker 04

  I miss this, you know, this feeling that you get when you see something and it just completely moves you and inspires you and feels totally relatable and yet so unrelatable, but so relatable.

• 10:37Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 10:37Speaker 04

  And inspiring.

• 10:38Speaker 03

  And anyone can watch it. Doesn't matter how old you are. Doesn't matter where you're from or who you are.

• 10:42Oprah Winfrey?

  Or if you know Neil Diamond. But I am a big Neil Diamond guy.

• 10:44Speaker 03

  Are you really?

• 10:45Oprah Winfrey?

  Oh my God. I was the only black kid in my neighborhood who actually knew who Neil Diamond was. And I'd go to school singing all the Neil Diamond songs, Hot August Night, and they'd take, "Don't you like The Temptations? I like The Temptations and Neil Diamond, okay?" I heard that when you were first approached about the role, you were struck by a sense of, I think you said it was a sense of kismet, right?

• 11:06Speaker 03

  Hmm.

• 11:06Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 11:07Speaker 03

  It felt to me, my life has taken so many, my career's taken so many turns I didn't expect, but I have been in musicals, I have been a performer, and I sort of related a little bit about, to Mike, this idea of just having this dream and just wanting to entertain.

• 11:22Oprah Winfrey?

  Yes.

• 11:22Speaker 03

  And I didn't know, when I was in Australia, I thought, if I could just be in the local theater in Sydney, that'd be fantastic. I had no idea, I'd be talking to Oprah with Kate Hudson. But I had, I really had, I relate to Mike in that way. All he wanted to do was just to affect people, tell stories. And this movie, I just thought, this is where I'm at in my life, in my career. This is what I want to put out there. And I'm so thrilled you liked it. I mean, you know what's amazing? Every studio turned it down.

• 11:50Oprah Winfrey?

  No.

• 11:50Speaker 03

  Thirteen. Thirteen no's. They were like, oh, no, the story goes places people don't want to see. And I think now everyone goes, ah, this is the movie, you know, type of movie.

• 11:59Oprah Winfrey?

  No, I'm telling you, it's, what did you think, audience? I mean, really, I mean.

• 12:07Oprah Winfrey?

  I love it. They came in cheering. Time for a quick break. Next, Hugh and Kate met with the real Neil Diamond. I want to know what he thinks of the movie. Plus, we're going to find out how Kate mastered her character's Midwest accent. We have a fun surprise for her that's coming up next. Stay with us.

• 12:29Speaker 05

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• 12:59Oprah Winfrey?

  Hi and welcome back to the Oprah Podcast. We're talking to the super talented stars of the movie Song, Song Blue, Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. I hope you go see it on Christmas Day in a theater with your family. It's so fun. Let's get back to our conversation. I want to show this clip where Mike and Claire realize they both have a bigger dream for their life. Let's look at this.

• 13:23Speaker 03

  I'm always going to be an alcoholic, but I've been sober 20 years. The other day was, well, they call it a sober birthday.

• 13:29Oprah Winfrey?

  Happy belated sober birthday.

• 13:31Speaker 03

  Here's the thing, with sobriety, you gotta face up to certain truths.

• 13:35Oprah Winfrey?

  Way to go, like, name 20 years.

• 13:38Speaker 03

  All right, I'm not a songwriter, I'm not a sex symbol, but I just want to entertain people and I want to make a living. I know, me too. I don't want to be a hairdresser. I want to sing, I want to dance, I want a house, I want a garden, I want a cat. So here's what I'm thinking. I need a hook, I need something big, I need something new. And as you put it, nostalgia pays.

• 14:00Oprah Winfrey?

  I love that nostalgia phase.

• 14:02Speaker 03

  Nostalgia pays.

• 14:06Oprah Winfrey?

  Okay, so for Hugh, Deadline says, Jackman, complete with diamond style hair, is as good as he's ever been. Playing a complicated guy who finds his groove in the music of an iconic singer. It isn't easy being such a recognizable star, meaning you, Hugh, impersonating a man, impersonating an equally recognizable star. But Jackman gives him edge and likability, so we are with him all the way. His diamond vocals are flawless. That's pretty good, sir.

• 14:38Speaker 03

  Thanks, I don't read them either, but thanks, I'm gonna stop now. That's awesome.

• 14:42Oprah Winfrey?

  So what was it like?

• 14:43Speaker 03

  I'm just gonna call you after every move.

• 14:44Oprah Winfrey?

  Okay, please do. And I'll read you only the good ones, only the good ones. So tell me this, what did it feel like interpreting someone who is interpreting someone else?

• 14:55Speaker 03

  I'm kind of glad you brought it up because it was a bit of a magic trick for me. Because I am a performer, I do get on stage, and I'm sure I have my own mannerisms that I'm not aware of. And I was like, I gotta strip all that away, I gotta become Mike, and then Mike becoming Neil, and it was a challenge. I talked a lot with Craig about it.

• 15:14Oprah Winfrey?

  You gotta strip away Hugh to become Mike, who becomes Neil.

• 15:17Speaker 03

  Right. And it was so much fun, but it was a real challenge. And I think it took me a second and to really find it, particularly as a performer. And I came up with things. I was just trying to feel him and I had the, obviously I had the documentary to go on. So I had a lot of footage and I would talk particularly with Rachel.

• 15:35Oprah Winfrey?

  Mm hmm.

• 15:35Speaker 03

  Who really helped us a lot. Rachel, the daughter in the movie, who is very much the grounder of that family, is still the grounder of that family. And she was the one we talked to a lot on set. But I have to say, I was lucky, both of us, I got a phone call from Neil and Katie, Neil Diamond and Katie, his wife, and they'd just seen the movie and Neil was crying.

• 15:56Oprah Winfrey?

  The real Neil Diamond, yeah.

• 15:58Speaker 03

  Yeah. And I did the very Australian thing. I said, can I come and see you and have a cup of tea, a cup of coffee? And he said, sure, why don't you stay the night? So I invited myself to Neil Diamond's house and we sang karaoke at dinner. Yes, with Neil Diamond. But as he came up to me, he looked at me and he put his hand on my shoulder. He goes, you did good, kid.

• 16:17Oprah Winfrey?

  Oh my.

• 16:19Speaker 03

  Yeah. I can retire.

• 16:22Oprah Winfrey?

  Okay, I'm done. I'm done here.

• 16:24Speaker 03

  But somehow it meant a lot to him. The movie's also by default a love letter to him.

• 16:30Oprah Winfrey?

  It is.

• 16:31Speaker 03

  And his songs and how he put his life and the ups and downs of his life into his songs. And he was just so moved by, he knew the story. There was a standing ticket.

• 16:40Oprah Winfrey?

  He knew about them, right? He obviously knew them.

• 16:42Speaker 03

  He knew, there was a standing ticket for Claire, right? For years and Claire went to so many and always went back and met Neil. And he just said, I love this story. He's the rights to my music.

• 16:52Oprah Winfrey?

  Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness.

• 16:55Speaker 04

  And when you get into his catalog of music, it's so prolific. It's like, I discovered so much about his songwriting through this process because I had never really gone deep on Neil Diamond. And he's just one of the most prolific, wonderful songwriters. And there's so much music to, even after this, I, I, I, I hope his music has a whole other life to it. After people see this.

• 17:17Oprah Winfrey?

  Well, it certainly does at my house right now.

• 17:19Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 17:19Oprah Winfrey?

  I've been playing it. So I heard that he said, I don't know if he said this to you, did you hear that he said this? That, that this was a good note, that this movie is a good note to go out on.

• 17:27Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 17:27Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 17:28Oprah Winfrey?

  Yes.

• 17:28Speaker 03

  Did he say that?

• 17:29Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, that's what I heard.

• 17:30Speaker 04

  On the line, on the. Yeah, Katy, we did the FaceTime and he said that to me. And Katy and I were like, "Well, don't say that," you know. Yeah. But it was, this movie means a lot to him. He, when I went to see him, he just kept thanking me. And of course, I was like, "No, Neil, thank you." And he's like, "No, thank you, no, thank you," you know. But he said that, he said, "There's something about my music that's always, like somehow found another life." And these things come along and they give it this new life. And he was very, like, had so much gratitude for the movie. And, and it sort of being that love letter to him.

• 18:05Oprah Winfrey?

  Well, you've been singing for years.

• 18:07Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 18:07Oprah Winfrey?

  I know Gail told me when you were here, she went to see you.

• 18:09Speaker 04

  She went to see you.

• 18:10Oprah Winfrey?

  For him. So what does it feel like for you to now to have the world recognize your singing voice through this film?

• 18:18Speaker 04

  Um, I mean, amazing. I just love to sing. Like, I think that's where I relate to Claire, you know. I, I, it was that moment in my life where I was like, "You know, I'd be happy sitting in a little bar with like three people watching and singing, or no one watching." And I'd sing all night long. I think we share that. And, uh, but I wasn't exercising the muscle. And so to be able to do that, and then to be able to do it like this in a film is just, you know.

• 18:46Speaker 03

  Can I, can I drop some names? It's a name because I actually met him at your place, Quincy Jones. Can I tell this story?

• 18:52Speaker 04

  Sure.

• 18:53Speaker 03

  Because Kate is really a musician. So when Kate was only 15, 16, she sang at her house and Quincy was there. And your mom would say, "Come on, Kate, sing."

• 19:00Speaker 04

  Yeah, I was like, "No, mom."

• 19:01Speaker 03

  And at the end of the night, Quincy rolled down his windows. He goes, "You're a singer. You need to sing." And for-

• 19:08Speaker 04

  Forever.

• 19:09Speaker 03

  Forever.

• 19:09Speaker 04

  Quincy just was like, "Why aren't you in the studio? You need to get in the studio."

• 19:12Oprah Winfrey?

  Really?

• 19:13Speaker 03

  I'm thrilled that he always-

• 19:14Oprah Winfrey?

  Quincy Jones says that to you.

• 19:15Speaker 04

  He was always, yeah.

• 19:18Oprah Winfrey?

  I take him at his word.

• 19:19Speaker 04

  Yeah, I, I, I, I, I thought about him a lot when I got in the studio to, to make my album because he, well, you know, there's certain people along the way that are cheerleaders and like really cut of are these people that you're like, "I, I, maybe I should be doing this," you know? And, uh, he was one of them. But that was one of the, you know, "You need to get in the studio, girl." He said all the time, "You need to get in the studio."

• 19:41Oprah Winfrey?

  You know what he said to me when we did the, everybody knows I did The Color Purple in 1985, the first one, right? That movie meant so much to me for so many reasons. And when we finished the movie, he said, "Oprah, baby, your future's so bright it burns my eyes." I did not know what that meant at the time, but I took him at his word. And everything, every wonderful thing that happened, I was saying, oh, this is what he was talking about. He could see what I couldn't see. So he could see, Kate, what you couldn't see.

• 20:09Speaker 04

  From very young, yeah.

• 20:10Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Something about the hair, I think. Something about the hair.

• 20:16Speaker 04

  All the hair.

• 20:17Speaker 03

  A lot of hair.

• 20:18Oprah Winfrey?

  Really? Did the hair make you connect to Neil? Every time you put that wig on, does something happen?

• 20:23Speaker 03

  And there's two wigs. You notice there's the Mike wig at the beginning.

• 20:27Oprah Winfrey?

  Yes.

• 20:27Speaker 03

  And then when he decides to become Neil.

• 20:29Oprah Winfrey?

  The interpreter, yes.

• 20:31Speaker 03

  I just loved it because I could feel Mike just going, yeah, this is great.

• 20:35Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, babe.

• 20:36Speaker 03

  And when I see that shot, it just looks so hilarious. Yeah.

• 20:39Speaker 04

  And then that.

• 20:39Speaker 03

  And just like, give me some leaf blowers. I want some, like, he just loved his hair. It was for Mike, it was all about it. So, yeah. I'm sort of, I wake up and whatever comes and goes. But no, Mike, I really, it really helped me get into his character.

• 20:53Speaker 04

  I had the same with Claire. I mean, when I got, we called it the Claire hair. Like, when that, when Claire hair got on, and we, I did hot rollers every morning. And I chose to use my own hair, and we fanned it out and made it look crazy. But when I got the rollers on and they'd come out, it was just like, wow.

• 21:09Oprah Winfrey?

  Claire is here.

• 21:10Speaker 04

  She's here.

• 21:11Oprah Winfrey?

  She's arrived, yeah.

• 21:12Speaker 04

  Yeah. And my, and my hairdresser, Johnny V, who's brilliant, was very specific with like hair, the hair journey, Claire's hair journey. But, you know.

• 21:23Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah. Well, I think that both of your accents, and extraordinary for you, Mr. Aussie, to get that Wisconsin accent. And you, Kate, you really nailed that Wisconsin thing.

• 21:34Speaker 04

  Thank you.

• 21:34Oprah Winfrey?

  You did.

• 21:35Speaker 03

  Mm-hmm.

• 21:35Oprah Winfrey?

  Just enough.

• 21:36Speaker 04

  Yeah. It was, it's hard when you're doing something like that because you don't want it to become a caricature of it. And yet, yet they had very strong Wisconsin, she had a, she has a very strong Wisconsin.

• 21:46Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, I heard that you blended the real Claire's accent with the accent of somebody that you'd known for a while.

• 21:52Speaker 04

  Yeah, so crazy story. I had a nanny from nine to 15, Kathy Heller.

• 21:56Oprah Winfrey?

  Okay.

• 21:57Speaker 04

  Who I loved more than anything. Wisconsin, born, raised in Milwaukee.

• 22:02Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 22:02Speaker 04

  And then when I was 21 and started getting work, a lot of work, I was very weary about having help and, and trusting people. And so I called her and I was like, would you ever come help me and assist me?

• 22:14Oprah Winfrey?

  You called the woman who was your nanny.

• 22:15Speaker 04

  Yeah. And she goes, no. And I was like, please, Kathy, I don't know, I don't know what to do. And she's like, I'll give you, okay, six months. Twenty-seven years later. She just retired, went back to Milwaukee.

• 22:28Oprah Winfrey?

  Wow.

• 22:29Speaker 04

  I, there's a lot of Kathy and Claire. Um, so, yeah, I was, I was raised and nurtured and loved and connected to a very, a very Milwaukee accent.

• 22:40Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, I know we have a few Midwesterners in the audience, uh, today. Raise your hands, tell us how you think Kate did with that accent, yeah? You think she did okay?

• 22:48Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Destiny K. Chambers. First of all, phenomenal film, multiple themes that I think many, many people resonate with. A lot of humanity in it. As somebody with a mental health disorder, it connected with me on that level. But especially as somebody who was born and raised in Milwaukee. So I, and I didn't expect that, I went into the film blind. So, as somebody born and raised in Milwaukee.

• 23:10Oprah Winfrey?

  Were you not a black person who loved Neil Diamond too?

• 23:14Speaker 06

  So I was not a black person who loved Neil Diamond, but I definitely had my fair share of genres that were not similar to those that people in my neighborhood listened to. But, um, I would definitely say the accent, uh, you nailed it. You nailed it.

• 23:27Speaker 04

  Thank you.

• 23:28Speaker 06

  I, my, I don't have a typical Wisconsin accent, except for when I say Wisconsin. Because it's all in the nose, it's very nasally. So I think you did a phenomenal job.

• 23:38Speaker 04

  Thank you so much. I also used to get Jimmy's, like the sprinkles and custard. We used to get them shipped from Wisconsin as a kid, because I loved Jimmy so much. And they're better in Wiscon, they're better in Wisconsin.

• 23:49Speaker 06

  A classic, a classic.

• 23:50Speaker 04

  So, I hear ya.

• 23:52Oprah Winfrey?

  I hear that.

• 23:53Speaker 04

  Thank you so much.

• 23:54Oprah Winfrey?

  Well, there's somebody else here. Uh, um, Kathy, what did you think of the accent?

• 23:59Speaker 03

  Stop. No.

• 24:01Oprah Winfrey?

  Yes.

• 24:01Speaker 04

  I thought she was amazing, just amazing. I love it.

• 24:08Speaker 04

  Wow, that's so awesome.

• 24:18Speaker 04

  How is my accent?

• 24:19Oprah Winfrey?

  It was wonderful.

• 24:22Speaker 04

  I loved every word you said.

• 24:24Oprah Winfrey?

  I have to tell you, I loved every word you said. It was like special to me, so. Out of the whole movie.

• 24:29Speaker 04

  Hi.

• 24:30Oprah Winfrey?

  Kathy Heller, everybody. This is the Kathy Heller.

• 24:35Speaker 04

  This is here.

• 24:36Oprah Winfrey?

  Yes, yes, yes. You called her to tell her that you wanted her to go to the premiere.

• 24:40Speaker 04

  Not yet. I was talking with Brad backstage. I was like, I gotta get Kathy and her sister out in December.

• 24:45Oprah Winfrey?

  Okay.

• 24:46Speaker 04

  To see the movie and to be here. Hi, you look amazing. Thank you, thank you. Retirement's been good.

• 24:53Oprah Winfrey?

  Because I look good. Did you know she was using you for the accent?

• 24:58Speaker 04

  I, you know, I had to kind of figure because we've been together for so long and there were times where she would make fun of certain words that I would say. So she would kind of like, you know, correct me or just say, did you just say car? You know, and it would be, so I figured she had to be thinking of me at doing it.

• 25:14Speaker 03

  Okay, so. Why didn't you say no at the beginning?

• 25:16Speaker 04

  With her?

• 25:17Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 25:18Speaker 04

  Because I was her nanny for six years. Six, seven years, and all of a sudden she was gonna be my boss. And I was like, I don't know how this dynamic's gonna work.

• 25:30Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 25:30Speaker 04

  So I did say no, and I said no more than once, too, so. She sure did. I don't take no for an answer.

• 25:36Oprah Winfrey?

  You used to be her nanny and now she's gonna be your boss. I would think about that, too.

• 25:40Speaker 04

  I did, I did.

• 25:41Oprah Winfrey?

  But it seems to have worked out for you, Kathy.

• 25:43Speaker 04

  It did. It was the best. We had so much fun. So much fun. And every Christmas, all I could think of, we're doing it right now, and I'm like, where's Kathy? Because Kathy and I at Christmas time, it's like our favorite time. Our favorite. We did.

• 25:55Oprah Winfrey?

  Okay, did you just see the movie?

• 25:56Speaker 04

  I did.

• 25:57Oprah Winfrey?

  And?

• 25:58Speaker 04

  I loved it. I loved it. I loved your connection. You guys were so real together. And I kept thinking, this is like real life and you're creating it. I mean, in the movie, it was amazing.

• 26:09Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, one review says that you two don't just have chemistry. I know y'all don't read them, but let me tell you what the people are saying. You two don't just have chemistry, you have emotional synergy. Emotional synergy. I would agree. Wasn't it so special?

• 26:26Speaker 04

  It was. I mean, it felt like it.

• 26:28Speaker 03

  And it was funny, the other day. Kate turned to me and someone was saying something like that.

• 26:32Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 26:32Speaker 03

  And Kate said, and it was easy. It just felt easy from the jump, from the first day we got together.

• 26:40Oprah Winfrey?

  We have to take a break. And if you are having as much fun as I am with Kate and Hugh, share this conversation with your friends and family. Whoever needs a pick me up, be right back.

• 26:50Speaker 05

  Send help is now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus.

• 26:53Oprah Winfrey?

  We're somewhere in the Gulf of Thailand.

• 26:55Speaker 05

  Getting us out of here should be your focus. I'm your boss, you work for me. Not in the office anymore. It's bold, relentless and endlessly rewatchable. Discover why critics give it 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. You're so fired.

• 27:12Speaker 07

  Oh, am I? No help is coming.

• 27:16Speaker 05

  Send help, rated R, now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus.

• 27:19Oprah Winfrey?

  Thanks for joining me on the Oprah podcast. I'm with the dynamic duo of Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, who star together in a triumphant love story, Songsong Blue. And I saw on an Instagram post where you had said that if there was one word to describe Kate, it would be congruent. Yes?

• 27:37Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 27:38Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, why?

• 27:39Speaker 03

  Because what she says, what comes from her heart and from her mind. Everything is in line. So as an actor, from day one, from rehearsals, everything, when you're opposite her, I believe absolutely everything. She's just, it's so true. And that's not always the way in life. Some people can be great actors and then when you meet them in life, it feels like there may be a barrier or they're second guess. Kate, what she thinks and what she feels comes out of her mouth. And it is always wise. She's someone who's done a lot of work on herself. You don't mind me saying that. And her life has been life and there's been a lot of life.

• 28:17Oprah Winfrey?

  Life has been.

• 28:18Speaker 03

  And life has done a lot. And she's managed to just process it all with such heart and care for others. So when you work with Kate, you feel safe.

• 28:29Oprah Winfrey?

  Take it in, receive it. Receive it, receive it, receive it.

• 28:32Speaker 03

  And you also hold everyone around you. You hold, there's no separation between crew and actor, where everyone was hanging out on set. And you get no separation between boss, like she's just herself. And that is such a beautiful thing in life and on camera. It's a rare thing. Take it in.

• 28:50Speaker 04

  Thanks.

• 28:50Oprah Winfrey?

  Take, receive it. Let's, let's look at this clip where we see the spark between Hugh and Kate's characters when they sing together for the first time. Oh my. Love this clip.

• 29:19Speaker 04

  Excuse me. Excuse me.

• 29:23Speaker 04

  Much too late for anyone to be singing that loud. Ma, this is the man I was telling you about, Mike Sardina. This is lightning.

• 29:29Oprah Winfrey?

  How you doing tonight?

• 29:31Speaker 04

  Not good. Sing softer.

• 29:36Oprah Winfrey?

  I heard that you screened this with your mom.

• 29:38Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 29:39Oprah Winfrey?

  And your pa.

• 29:40Speaker 04

  Sure did.

• 29:40Oprah Winfrey?

  And what happened?

• 29:41Speaker 04

  They were very emotional. I never heard.

• 29:44Oprah Winfrey?

  Your mom, Goldie Hawn. Your pa, Kurt Russell.

• 29:48Speaker 04

  My mom is easily emotional, you know? She's like emotional with everything. But Kurt, it really hit Kurt in a way that I hadn't seen him experience something before. In the sense that he was audible, like audible, watching the movie with the things that were, oh, no. You'd hear him go, no, no, no, no, no, no, you know? And then he got very emotional and he's a tough, he's my toughest critic. He's, he really is, like he doesn't.

• 30:15Oprah Winfrey?

  And aren't you your toughest critic?

• 30:17Speaker 04

  I'm my toughest.

• 30:17Oprah Winfrey?

  Were you usually watching and judging and then you weren't, you able? The fact that you were, I heard that you were able to like get into the story.

• 30:25Speaker 04

  I was able to like lose sight of the fact that it was, yes, I was able to actually take in the story and the movie. And like you, like I said, it made me miss movies. I could watch it again, like we were saying, very rarely, I could watch this movie over and over again.

• 30:40Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah. I intend to.

• 30:42Speaker 04

  And not, and not feel a personal connection to it anymore. I could watch it as a, as an experience, which is very rare.

• 30:50Oprah Winfrey?

  I know, I mean, I says, my friend Marlene said, let's watch it again. And I go, Marlene, I can't watch it again tonight. But I will watch it again and again. And I, I hope you all go, don't you want to now tell everybody? Want to tell everybody, go see this movie and go see it on a big screen and go see it on Christmas Day. Christmas Day. Christmas Day.

• 31:15Oprah Winfrey?

  What do you want to say about the phenomenal supporting cast?

• 31:19Speaker 03

  Oh, I'm so glad you mentioned it. We were so lucky. Every day we would turn up and there was incredible actors. Jim Belushi, Fisher Stevens, Ella Anderson.

• 31:28Speaker 04

  Ella Anderson.

• 31:29Speaker 03

  Who plays Rachel, who is, people will know her from a Nickelodeon show she did. She's phenomenal. Uh, Michael Imperioli, who you probably know from The Sopranos, who's phenomenal. Hudson Henley, who plays. My little son, my youngest young son. Dana. Yeah. Who else we got in there? He's the one doing the filming all the time, yes.

• 31:46Speaker 04

  Oh, KP, Michaela, who's.

• 31:49Speaker 03

  We all hung out together, so we would hang out.

• 31:51Oprah Winfrey?

  We all actually really felt like, didn't it feel like a family? It felt like a family, yeah.

• 31:55Speaker 03

  And that's why I'm so glad it's coming out on Christmas Day. Cause for me, it really is about family.

• 31:59Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 32:00Speaker 03

  And I think that's why it's emotional and, and I sort of love that this story. I was talking with Eddie Vedder, who's had that relationship with Mike and actually never forgot Mike. And he just said, isn't it incredible how their dreams, which were naive, are being realized 30 years later?

• 32:19Speaker 04

  Oh my.

• 32:19Speaker 03

  Through a movie. And that's sort of how, I was like, yeah, Eddie is like, I'm telling everyone to see the movie and I'm not that kind of guy. I'm not the guy who's like, you gotta see it. But I, that's how I feel, but I feel it's Mike and Claire's story needs to get out there because it somehow sparks in all of us. Don't stop dreaming.

• 32:36Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 32:36Speaker 03

  Don't stop.

• 32:37Oprah Winfrey?

  I feel that it's so uplifting and I feel that everybody needs a little upliftment right now. I feel that it leaves you feeling open. It does, don't you feel that it opened the heart space a little for you? You feel that? There's a tragic accident that actually happened to the couple in real life. The character Claire struggles to recover and the family feels helpless. Where did you, you had to go some places for that? I went, whoa.

• 33:03Speaker 04

  Yeah, I got, you have to go, yeah, you get to go, I got to go down. I got to go down and out. I think, I think it's like any dream as an actor to be able to, to sort of go to a place where you can serve a story, especially when it's a real person where you can honor someone's. Darkness and their light. And for me, it's like really, really understanding what that is. And then allowing the writing and the story and the director to help take you there.

• 33:30Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 33:30Speaker 04

  And I was, I was saying like, like any performer, you long for the things that allow you to be able to feel out of body. And when you're working like that and you can actually like, it's like, it's like something you're channeling versus something you're trying to make happen.

• 33:46Oprah Winfrey?

  Coming through you.

• 33:47Speaker 04

  It's, it's why we're so addicted to performing, whether it's on stage and you're singing or hitting a note or, you know, whether it's, you know, some of the tough scenes we had together. When you, when you're in a pocket like that, it, it, it's, there's something about it that it just feels like it's a channel. And, and, you know, with that comes all the, the work that goes into getting there and understanding that.

• 34:11Oprah Winfrey?

  That's what's so great about this film because as you were saying earlier, Hugh, it's about life, lifing on people. And the character that you play also is struggling with his own problems. And we feel the complexity of that in every scene. And particularly when he's on stage because you're rooting for the guy.

• 34:30Speaker 03

  Right.

• 34:30Oprah Winfrey?

  You're rooting for the guy to win. So did you have to go someplace to tap into all the, there, there's so many multiple layers for both of you.

• 34:38Speaker 03

  So Mike was a, a Vietnam vet. And in Vietnam, he was a tunnel rat, which was the worst of the worst job. The ones who had to jump down in to tunnels that were usually booby trapped or filled with the enemy and just start shooting. And 90% of them died of the tunnel rats. And many of them became addicts, the ones that survived. And so I started with that. What is that? You come back, you're given this chance at life that most of the people you know didn't have. He also had a heart condition. So he's one of those people that is not thinking, wow, you know, I'm, I'm probably got till 75. He might go any minute. So there was an urgency about him. Like I need, I've got this dream and I, it's got to happen now. And sometimes that was to his detriment.

• 35:20Speaker 03

  Like you see that scene with the biker bar and he's like, no, this is our set and this is what we're doing. And it doesn't turn out well, but I. He needed that Suleman. That, in a way.

• 35:29Oprah Winfrey?

  I love that biker bar where they play Suleman. Cause Suleman, I love that song Suleman.

• 35:33Speaker 04

  I was like, just gotta play it.

• 35:35Oprah Winfrey?

  Wouldn't play it there.

• 35:37Speaker 03

  And that's all the true story. They were throwing bottles at him and it broke his heart. Because for him, he thought this is the road and he got booed. And Mike, all he wanted to do was to please people and make them happy. And he couldn't understand he was being booed. Um, it was a really, so I, I relate to him, but in many ways I'm inspired by him because he.

• 35:56Oprah Winfrey?

  He kept the dream going.

• 35:58Speaker 03

  Couldn't say no. He just kept going. And that scene at the table where he finally says, I think I'm going to give up lightning. You see what the cost of that is, what the cost of giving up that dream. Yeah, to both of them, to both of them. But he's rescued by his partner. They rescue each other.

• 36:14Speaker 04

  And there, and there is like this sense of sort of the, the beautiful side of codependency. These are two people who really struggled, one with alcoholism and one with, you know, depression.

• 36:25Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 36:25Speaker 04

  And, and, and I, I think Craig, as a writer, did such a wonderful job of like, you know, understanding what it is to have those, that, that, that struggle, but never like, being inspired by it versus it bringing you down into the, you know.

• 36:42Oprah Winfrey?

  And the whole time you're thinking, this is a true story? This is a true story?

• 36:48Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 36:48Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 36:49Speaker 03

  No, I find myself, I've been in a few screenings now, I want to yell out, that really happened. No, no, no, that really happened. Everything really happened because it's so unbelievable.

• 36:57Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 36:58Speaker 03

  I mean, we all have things in our life that come out of the blue, but somehow these two got, they got a truckload full of it.

• 37:03Oprah Winfrey?

  And what they go through. I mean, she's just standing in front of her house, which we won't, won't say what that is. After the break, a little surprise for some true blue Neil Diamond fans and Latin and Thunder fans in Milwaukee. That's next.

• 37:17Speaker 07

  This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking, maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home with agents who close twice as many deals. When you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it. Get started at redfin.com. Own the dream.

• 37:46Oprah Winfrey?

  Hey there. Welcome back to my conversation with the incomparable Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, the stars of the new movie Song Song Blue. It's about a real-life Neil Diamond tribute band, but also so much more. Oh, I just love this movie. Do you have a question?

• 38:03Speaker 04

  Yes. Hello.

• 38:04Speaker 03

  Hi.

• 38:04Speaker 04

  How did you develop your amazing on-screen chemistry?

• 38:09Speaker 03

  On day one, we did a reading, and Kate came up to me afterwards. And it's the only reading I've ever been to where everyone's crying at the end.

• 38:17Speaker 04

  Especially our producer.

• 38:19Speaker 03

  The producer.

• 38:19Speaker 04

  John Davis was a mess.

• 38:20Speaker 03

  He's done 117 movies.

• 38:22Oprah Winfrey?

  117 movies, and he was crying?

• 38:23Speaker 03

  I have never, ever cried ever before at a reading.

• 38:27Oprah Winfrey?

  So you'd read the whole thing? This where you all sit around the table?

• 38:30Speaker 03

  And we just sat there, and we had some, well, there was some sandwiches, some Jersey Mike's or something. And we were sitting there, and you and I were just sitting next to each other. And I remember Kate turned to me and she said, "This movie only works if we work." And I went, "You're right." And somehow, from day one, I knew that we could trust each other. There's something in our DNA. We like to connect.

• 38:54Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 38:55Speaker 03

  You're a connector.

• 38:55Speaker 04

  Connect.

• 38:56Speaker 03

  You know, and some actors, who are brilliant, and I, as soon as the camera's not rolling, they don't want to talk. They're separate.

• 39:03Speaker 04

  There's an exclusive network.

• 39:04Speaker 03

  And it's okay. That's just who they are. They're introverted, but we like to connect. So we very quickly got to understand each other, trust each other, and know that we were going to go to some places that neither of us had ever been before.

• 39:16Speaker 04

  Yeah, within hours, we knew each other's entire life story. The most intimate parts of, you know, and, and...

• 39:24Speaker 03

  It's a bit of a therapist, so I guess a lot of free therapy.

• 39:27Oprah Winfrey?

  So Kate, when you finished the reading, and you said that to him, "This movie only works if we work," was that based on the reaction that you'd gotten from everybody listening to it? Based upon what? Because as you know, during that first read, even though you've read the script yourself multiple times, when you have that first read in the room with everybody, it feels different. It comes alive in a way that it hasn't before.

• 39:49Speaker 04

  It does. I felt that way, though, coming in. It was my biggest thing was, everything's on the page. The thing that we don't know if it is, is how, our chemistry. And if we don't have that, and if that's not, if we're not in that intimate...

• 40:07Oprah Winfrey?

  That's why it doesn't feel like acting. That's why you both deserve many awards. Because none of it feels like acting. None of it feels like acting.

• 40:16Speaker 03

  But I was so glad you mentioned that because both of us can, we can fake it pretty well, right? We can get on with people.

• 40:23Speaker 04

  We like to tap dance.

• 40:24Speaker 03

  Yeah. But this needed something deeper than two actors meeting. Oh, they get on great. It needed a trust, um, yeah.

• 40:32Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 40:33Speaker 03

  And intimacy, I guess.

• 40:33Oprah Winfrey?

  It's what the reviewer said. It's not just energy or chemistry. It's a synergy that happened, something that happened. Yeah. And so how do you make that happen on, is it either there or isn't there? Or you have to work at actually making it happen?

• 40:47Speaker 04

  I think that, I think what you said, did you have to work at it? I didn't. I wonder if we're gonna discover something. No, I, I feel like when you say we're connectors, like I think that there's something about us that's very, like, we love being a part of the community. We're circus people, you know? And, and there's a similarity in how we connect to anyone. And we're both tactile. And I think there was just this immediate understanding that we needed to go to this place. And so we allowed ourselves to trust is the right word, but also generosity. Hugh, like, my son said this, Ryder said this about Hugh. He's like, Mom, if sainthood was still sort of a thing, I think Hugh would be a saint.

• 41:32Speaker 03

  Ryder?

• 41:32Speaker 04

  Yeah. And he really meant that because he, and Ryder said, well, his words, not mine, was, his, your generosity of spirit is so, it's so palpable, it's so incredible. And, and I, I think that for someone like you, I think it's probably becoming intimate or doing something like that is something you haven't really, we have, you haven't really expressed.

• 41:55Speaker 03

  No.

• 41:56Speaker 04

  And, and so when I was able to sort of be that person with you, it was like, I felt this like openness in you, but I think it's a new part of who you are in this part of your life. And I feel so honored that I got to be the first person.

• 42:14Oprah Winfrey?

  To crack that thing, to crack that.

• 42:16Speaker 04

  To actually experience that with Hugh, which is, you know, I've, I've met you multiple times throughout our, you know, careers. But there, there was just a newness in you, a different thing. And I think we just at this, met each other at the right time and it came out. And, yeah.

• 42:32Speaker 03

  Therapist.

• 42:35Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah. Yeah. I can hear you recei-- I can see you receiving that, like what she's saying. I can see you really taking that in. Is what she's saying, you feel that for yourself? That there's a newness, there's a something there?

• 42:48Speaker 03

  Yeah. Yeah. And I felt it with the director as well, with Craig.

• 42:52Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, because you went somewhere, we haven't seen you go before. You did, yeah.

• 42:55Speaker 03

  And I look up on the screen, I go, oh, I feel I'm seeing more of me that I feel than I've ever seen on screen. And so I think it comes with trust, it comes with some humility, it comes with, you know, life.

• 43:08Oprah Winfrey?

  The work.

• 43:09Speaker 03

  And the work, my own work.

• 43:10Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah. Well, I want to show this moment, y'all, where Hugh's character, Mike, realizes that his dreams just, they just might come true. Take a look.

• 43:20Speaker 03

  You know, Neil is special, and I just want everyone to get that feeling I get when I listen to America and Forever in Blue Jeans.

• 43:27Speaker 04

  Sweet Caroline.

• 43:28Speaker 03

  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 gotta be Neil, but I've just gotta be me, too.

• 43:39Speaker 04

  Yeah, you don't want to be a Neil Diamond impersonator, you want to be a Neil Diamond interpreter.

• 43:47Speaker 03

  I was looking for the right way to say it, and you just came right out and said, a Neil Diamond interpreter.

• 43:54Oprah Winfrey?

  So you were saying that there was a part of you that is showing up in this film that you haven't even seen or expressed before?

• 44:02Speaker 03

  If I could simplify it, it feels like a letting go. It feels like a relaxing, it feels like a trusting. I think I had maybe, if I can look at myself, it was a little more planned.

• 44:13Oprah Winfrey?

  Be reflective.

• 44:13Speaker 03

  A little more planned, a little more controlled, a little, somehow, this feels like there's layers that have just gone down. And that's why I say about Kate, you meet Kate, it's just congruent. There's no barrier. You can feel it today. There's no barrier to what, what she's saying right here today is exactly what she was saying backstage to me. There's no difference. And I think there's more, I think working with you really helped, working with Craig and the script, and... Maybe just life, that it's catching me at this time in my life.

• 44:46Speaker 04

  But Hugh, you said this halfway through the movie. He said, "I feel like this is just meeting us both at exactly the right time." Because we were both, it was an emotional experience for both of us to make this movie. There were so many themes and so many things that we could relate to in our own life. Even the musicality of it, you know?

• 45:06Oprah Winfrey?

  I started crying when y'all played "Play Me" together for the first time. Did you all not? Oh my God, and that shot how he goes around at the thing, oh my gosh.

• 45:14Speaker 04

  That was Kurt, that was Kurt's first time.

• 45:17Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, I loved that moment, yes.

• 45:18Speaker 04

  That was when my dad got him.

• 45:20Speaker 03

  Remember what he did with "Hustle and Flow"?

• 45:22Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 45:22Speaker 03

  Remember the "Try to be handsome" and Terrence Howard, that moment where they start to make a song and you feel something magic happen? And I, how you captured?

• 45:29Oprah Winfrey?

  That's exactly what happened here.

• 45:30Speaker 03

  He did it here again.

• 45:31Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, he did it here again.

• 45:32Speaker 04

  Belushi said this on one of our interviews. He's got the soul of a musician, Craig, our writer-director. And, you know, I think music movies are really hard to make. They're not made well very often. You could really name your favorite ones.

• 45:48Oprah Winfrey?

  And you, you said in the CBS Morning piece that you tried out for every musical and been turned down.

• 45:55Speaker 04

  I know, everything that had anything to do with music, I was like, I would love to do it. Some I got to do, some I didn't. But yeah, I think Craig, Craig though, has such an amazing connection to music himself. And so you can see it.

• 46:09Speaker 03

  And we sang it live. Craig was like, "We're gonna, we'll do it live." Because if we're gonna capture a magic moment, it has to be captured there.

• 46:15Oprah Winfrey?

  Well, Mike Sardina, Lightning, passed away in 2006, but Claire, Thunder, is still alive.

• 46:21Speaker 04

  She's still doing it.

• 46:22Oprah Winfrey?

  Has she seen the movie?

• 46:24Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah, she saw it. I, she loves it, she loves it. She's just over the moon. And, and it was very challenging for her to watch, you know?

• 46:35Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 46:35Speaker 04

  Yeah. And I guess there, you know, where, where we go down.

• 46:39Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 46:40Speaker 04

  But she's just so great, they're so happy. It makes me so happy that she's.

• 46:45Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 46:45Speaker 04

  I think about Mike a lot because I'm like, his whole thing, like, he was so filled with life and wanted to be this big, this, you know, his, "I'm huge, I'm huge." It's like.

• 46:56Oprah Winfrey?

  I love when he goes, "I'm huge, babe."

• 46:57Speaker 04

  Yeah, "I'm huge, baby, I'm huge."

• 46:59Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 46:59Speaker 04

  And, and I mean, I wish he could experience this, but this is, I guess, exactly.

• 47:06Oprah Winfrey?

  This is the way it was supposed to be.

• 47:07Speaker 03

  He's up there, mate. He made this all happen.

• 47:09Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 47:09Speaker 03

  He was like, when 13 in studio said, no, Mike's up, they go, oh no.

• 47:13Oprah Winfrey?

  Hold on for the 14th, yes.

• 47:15Speaker 03

  This is gonna be huge.

• 47:16Oprah Winfrey?

  This is gonna be huge. Okay, so I have a little surprise.

• 47:22Speaker 03

  Is it my nanny?

• 47:23Oprah Winfrey?

  No.

• 47:25Speaker 03

  That's true, because I didn't have one.

• 47:27Oprah Winfrey?

  You didn't have one. Okay, so here's a surprise, okay. We found two people in Wisconsin who love Neil Diamond and used to go to the real Lightning and Thunder concerts back then.

• 47:39Speaker 03

  Oh my god.

• 47:40Oprah Winfrey?

  They think, okay, I'm gonna start, I'm gonna zoom in with them in a second, and they think, they've been told by the producers, that we're doing a show talking about America, and that because I grew up in Milwaukee and it's this, you know, center of the country, we want to talk about that. And they don't know that they are here, and they don't know that we want to talk about Lightning and Thunder, so I'm getting ready to do that. Okay. Oh, hi there. Hi, guys. So Barb and her husband Reed, and our best friends, Kristy and her husband Casey, are joining us on Zoom from Wisconsin. They're all born and raised in the Milwaukee area. Kristy, I want to ask you first, I hear you're all big fans of Neil Diamond, and you know,

• 48:25Oprah Winfrey?

  there's, there was a group that used to play there in Wisconsin called Lightning and Thunder, and that that was a real Midwestern American kind of thing. So can you tell us about that? Did you all know who they were?

• 48:39Speaker 04

  Absolutely. Sure. Yeah. So, yes, we absolutely knew who Lightning and Thunder were. We, as young adults, before we were even married, would go and enjoy the shows downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. You know, we love our music, so we enjoyed their show so much. It felt like you were at a mini-concert. They were great singers, and it was so much fun. Was, you know, not only fun with your group, but the whole bar joining in and singing. So they they really were great connectors and a lot of fun to see for sure.

• 49:14Oprah Winfrey?

  What was it just in Milwaukee? Was it a Milwaukee thing only?

• 49:18Speaker 04

  They also were in Chicago. I had friends from college that also would go see them for the weekends. So, you know, this this area, they would hit.

• 49:28Oprah Winfrey?

  So Barb, what was it about Lightning and Thunder and the the whole Neil Diamond music that that you loved that attracted you?

• 49:37Speaker 04

  Well, what we loved about them is they had this chemistry between the two of them. And he would come out, walk to the crowd, and he'd look like Neil Diamond. So we would all kind of gather around him and sing. And it was like you were with Neil Diamond because he really looked like Neil Diamond. But he just made it really fun and they were kind of fed off of each other as a couple. So they were really fun.

• 49:59Oprah Winfrey?

  I think that is so fun. You know what is even more fun? That we know it's your birthday, Barb, and and it's your birthday. And I, you know, I love a good surprise and I want to let you on a little secret we've been keeping from you. Here in New York, I'm here with the stars of the new movie Song, Song Blue. Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, who play Lightning and Thunder in the film.

• 50:24Speaker 04

  Hi.

• 50:29Speaker 03

  Happy birthday.

• 50:30Speaker 04

  Happy birthday.

• 50:31Oprah Winfrey?

  Happy birthday, Barb.

• 50:31Speaker 03

  It's my mom's birthday tomorrow, so this is cool.

• 50:35Oprah Winfrey?

  And I know you have a surprise for them, Hugh. What's the surprise?

• 50:38Speaker 03

  What is my surprise?

• 50:38Oprah Winfrey?

  OK, the surprise is, the surprise is that you all are going to go in the spirit of the season. Hugh and Kate are going to rent out the theater for you for your own VIP screening of the movie Song, Song Blue.

• 50:55Speaker 03

  That's awesome.

• 50:56Oprah Winfrey?

  And you're bringing all of your friends and family.

• 51:00Speaker 03

  That is so awesome.

• 51:06Oprah Winfrey?

  Thank you Hugh and Kate.

• 51:10Speaker 03

  So when they, when they say you should read these notes, you really should read the notes?

• 51:15Speaker 03

  I knew about you guys. Anyway, we're so thrilled. I've been planning it for a long time.

• 51:21Speaker 03

  And, you know, I spoke to the manager. Everything's gonna be great.

• 51:24Oprah Winfrey?

  And here, and Kate's taking care of all the popcorn, all the concessions. Don't worry about it.

• 51:30Speaker 03

  Lot of garlands.

• 51:31Speaker 04

  Yeah, lots of so many, so many Christmas decorations.

• 51:33Oprah Winfrey?

  It's gonna be so fun. So you get the whole theater for your friends and family to go see it. Let me tell you, the audience here, we've all seen it, and it is fantastic. You're gonna have so much fun.

• 51:45Speaker 04

  We wanna dance in the aisles during the show.

• 51:47Oprah Winfrey?

  Well, you will be able to do that. You'll be able to do that. Thank you. So, thank you. Thank you all so much.

• 51:54Speaker 03

  Thank you guys. Happy birthday.

• 51:59Speaker 04

  How fun.

• 52:02Speaker 04

  A rented out theater with your, that sounds so much, like so much fun. I love it.

• 52:07Speaker 03

  So great.

• 52:07Oprah Winfrey?

  Didn't you think that was a good idea?

• 52:08Speaker 03

  I thought it was awesome.

• 52:09Speaker 04

  That's a good idea.

• 52:12Speaker 03

  Thanks. And it was so sweet of you to try and give it to me. That was my idea. That was so kind.

• 52:17Oprah Winfrey?

  Okay, there's something about, I think, the spirit of the holidays and the spirit of Neil Diamond's music mixed together with the spirit of this love story that really lifts you up. What do you, I mean, I know that you did the film because you wanted to do the film, but what do you want people to get from all of this? Yeah.

• 52:38Speaker 03

  The story in many ways is it could be any, it could be anyone. They're everyday people, but their lives are extraordinary because of not just what happens to them, but because of their dreams and the way they build this family together. There's two people who come together later in life and they rescue each other. And they build around them this village that no matter what goes on in their life, they have someone there for them.

• 53:04Oprah Winfrey?

  The unit, the family unit.

• 53:06Speaker 03

  Ultimately, it will, it will really... Restore any faith you have in having dreams, sticking to them. Don't say no. If anyone tells you you can't have that dream, that's too big for you, you say, "No, I'm actually gonna dream even huger."

• 53:19Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, and then when a terrible, anything bad shows up in your life, you, you just pick yourself up and you keep going.

• 53:25Speaker 03

  And pick each other up.

• 53:26Oprah Winfrey?

  And pick each other, oh, that's it.

• 53:28Speaker 04

  The unit gets us through everything.

• 53:30Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah.

• 53:31Speaker 04

  And, and I, I also think that there's something really amazing about the, the, that it really honors like the tip jar musician. It honors the, the, the, the people who...

• 53:44Oprah Winfrey?

  Cause all those people who were in the scenes with you in the beginning, those people were real people that were on that circuit, right?

• 53:49Speaker 04

  Yes, for every great rock star, every movie star, everything, there's a thousand people who are just as talented and don't get the same opportunities and are still out there and they do it because they love it. And I always say like, I remember when, and when, was it Killian Murphy who said, "I'm a, I'm a, I'm a failed musician." And I remember hearing him say that and I thought, "No, you're not. You're always a musician." There's nothing, there's no failure in, in being a musician.

• 54:18Oprah Winfrey?

  That's right, if you love the music.

• 54:19Speaker 04

  No matter how you do it. And, and I think there's, it's a big love story to that, to, to people who have a drive to whether it's just sing.

• 54:27Oprah Winfrey?

  Yeah, I think that's what's so motivating about it is that ultimately it's a big love story, right?

• 54:31Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 54:32Oprah Winfrey?

  Big love story.

• 54:32Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 54:33Oprah Winfrey?

  Well, thank you Hugh and Kate for stopping by.

• 54:36Speaker 04

  Love you so much.

• 54:37Oprah Winfrey?

  Guys, Songs Song Blues in theaters everywhere, Christmas Day. I think it's just, uh, it's a great see for the holiday season and you walk away with a tear in your eye, I had a couple tears in my eyes during it, and a song in your heart. Whether you know Neil Diamond, love Neil Diamond, not know Neil Diamond, it's a fantastic film and you guys are fantastic in it, really.

• 55:01Speaker 04

  Thanks, okay.

• 55:07Oprah Winfrey?

  I can't wait to see it again!

• 55:10Speaker 03

  I've got a little story.

• 55:11Oprah Winfrey?

  What?

• 55:12Speaker 03

  Can I tell you a little story?

• 55:13Oprah Winfrey?

  I want to hear the story.

• 55:14Speaker 03

  I hope Neil doesn't mind me telling you this, but when you're in the Diamond House, they have a little rule that if anyone in conversation says "so good", two other people have to say "so good, so good".

• 55:25Speaker 04

  Everybody goes, "so good, so good!"

• 55:26Speaker 03

  You have no idea how often we say "so good" in life. Try that at home.

• 55:30Speaker 04

  And when I was there and it happened, it was so funny to me. I was like, "Did you guys really just do that?" And they're like, "Oh, anytime someone says 'so good'..."

• 55:38Oprah Winfrey?

  Like if you say, "This food, this other eating..."

• 55:40Speaker 04

  "Oh, it's so good", then the family will go, "So good, so good!" I'm like, "That is the best." And now I do it all the time. If I hear it, I do it all the time. It's so great.

• 55:52Speaker 03

  And he loves it. It wasn't something in the original song. It just came out, right? It happened in performance and crowds started, someone picked it up.

• 55:59Oprah Winfrey?

  And then everybody does it all over the world.

• 56:02Speaker 04

  Isn't it the, isn't music the best language?

• 56:04Oprah Winfrey?

  It is the best. It's the best. But I just saw a, a, a, a video on YouTube of like 60,000 people in a stadium in Germany singing "Sweet Caroline". I mean, it is the official national anthem of white people. It is for sure.

• 56:20Speaker 04

  That, this it is.

• 56:23Speaker 03

  So good.

• 56:24Speaker 04

  So good, so good, so good!

• 56:27Oprah Winfrey?

  All right, go well, everybody. See you next week.

• 56:30Speaker 04

  Song, song, blue, you remind me of a rose. Oh, yes. Sleeping on my pillow. Sleeping on my pillow. Song, song, blue, sleeping on my pillow.

• 56:45Oprah Winfrey?

  You can subscribe to The Over Podcast on YouTube and follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. I'll see you next week. Thanks, everybody.