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

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can we get the whole audience doing Song, Song, Blue, all right? In other words. Song, song, blue, everybody knows one. Every garden grows one. Song, song, blue, every garden grows one. Hi there, everybody. It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Oprah Podcast, and we're in New York City.

Thank you with a live audience. 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, 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 to all those iconic Neil Diamond songs. after you watch. So this audience just saw the film. Wasn't it great? Yes! Wasn't it great?

Don't we all just want to go? Song, so on. Blue, yes, everybody knows what. Okay, Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson are gonna blow you away in this film. Here's a look. I'm not a songwriter. I'm not a sex symbol. I just want to entertain people. I don't want to be a hairdresser. I want to

I want to dance, I want a garden, I want a cat. I need something big, I need something new. What do you think? You don't want to be a Neil Diamond impersonator. You want to be a Neil Diamond interpreter. We should call ourselves lightning and thunder. So you be lightning and I'd be thunder. Uh, yeah.

Sweet Caroline, huh, huh, huh. Bob, how you doing? How am I doing? You too. You too always know what to do. I can't thank Neil, because every thank you I got belongs to you, Dahl. You're my August night, my September morning, you're my crackling Rosie. I wanted to ripple and wave when the wind blows my shirt.

Wind in a bar. How? Like a leaf blower. I love this movie so much. You Jackman, Kate Hudson. Welcome them to the over deckhouse. Hey! Oh, I love you. Oh, hey, babe.

Nice you. Nice you. So good to see you. So good. So good. Oh, so do you guys. Yay! May we say,

Bravo, bravo, bravo, bravo, bravo, bravo, bravo, I'm so glad you all saw it. Thank you for seeing it. Yes, yes, yes. Yes, yes. And your performances are just spectacular. just spectacular, mesmerizing and spectacular.

You look amazing. Well, thank you. So, so, so do you guys. It's been too long since I've seen you. It's been so long. It's 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 know it until I watched it. It's an amazing documentary. America's good. Somebody saw this duo, Lightning and Thunder, Mike and Claire, and went, oh, these two are going to be huge. 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 going to watch a film go,

well, that didn't happen. They made that bit up, but everything is true. Everything is true. Everything. Everything's true. Wow. I know, it's wild. What attracted you to the story,

and then what attracted you for heard to the story? Craig came to me and said, I want you to watch it. This is the writer-director, Craig Brewer, 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.

Yeah. Or what family, the power of family. Yeah. And to, I guess, you might say ordinary, everyday people, but of course, no one is ordinary or every day. But their dreams were massive and naive and huge. And Mike and Claire stuck together through. whatever life was storing because life's going to be life in right yeah and life comes at them hard and they just stuck together and i just thought this is the kind of story i want to put out in the world

i think it's the kind of story we need to hear and see and when you read it you felt the same yeah and different i i read the script as a script that was out in the world yeah and read it and didn't know it was a documentary and just the script was so good and so moving that i kind of 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 that. But when you even read the script, were you like, wow, this is a role I want to play? Yeah, and a dream for me, you know, to be able to. So, like, sort of hoping that.

And may I say, you were a dream in it. You are a dream in it. Thank you so much. Yeah, thank you. Yes, it was really, like, when you read something like that, and so for me, it was like you just hope that, you know, it becomes a real opportunity. Yes.

Okay, and so you were going to do it. Craig had called you. So tell this story because you were on CBS Mornings for a story about your new album, right? And you see her on CBS Warnings and Craig Cesar, right? Actually, Michelle, who's worked with me for 15 years, her sister and niece are here today. And she's here somewhere, dying right now.

She, Ramey said, are you watching CBS Sunday? I said, I'm not actually, you've got to 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 got to watch CBS Sunday. Claire is Kate Hudson.

Please, I'm already invested. Please send her the script and please tell her she has to do it. And she didn't. He said it. So happy. Because I had read the script. before. Yes. Yeah, it was great. What do you mean? You'd read the script? I had been slipped the script. Oh, I didn't know that. I've got people in places. So you did, so maybe it was Kate Hudson

putting it out. She's a powerful on this one. Oh, all a master plan. That's fantastic. What else she got planned, Kate, Edson? That's fantastic. So did you feel the same thing, though, that this, it's like a down-on-your-luck guy? and women who were trying to make life meet and the right spaces for themselves. And then this moment happens. 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 your family around you and they are your support system. 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.

That's a review. You're going to start writing reviews now? 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 much. Well, you know, here's the thing. I watched with a friend of mine, a dear friend and neighbor, Marlene Velo's. I had her come over because I didn't want to watch it by myself and Steven wasn't there. And so I said, Marlene, come over and let's watch this movie.

And when we finish watching, she goes, can we watch it again? Can we watch it again? And during the movie, she goes, Oh, my God, is Gail seen this? She's going to love it. I just love it, and I can't wait until it opens on Christmas Day. Thank you, Oprah.

And it made me miss movies. Yes. Like, when I sat... Nobody's making movies like this. 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. Yeah.

And inspiring. And anyone can watch it. Doesn't matter how all you are. It doesn't matter where you're from or who you are. Or if you know Neil Diamond, I am a big Neil Diamond. Are you really? 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? Hmm. Yeah.

It felt to me my life has taken so many, my career has 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. And I didn't know when I was in Australia. I thought, if I could just be in a local theater in Sydney, that would be fantastic. I had no idea.

I'd be talking to Oprah with Kate Hudson. But I 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. my life and my career, this is what I want to put out there. And I'm so thrilled you like it. I mean, you know what's amazing? Every studio turned it down.

No. 13. 13 knows. They were like, oh, no, the story goes places people don't want to see. And I think now everyone goes, oh, this is the movie, you know, type of movie. No, I'm telling you. What did you think, audience? I mean, really. I mean, 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.

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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. I'm always going to be an alcoholic, but I've been sober 20 years.

The other day, it was what they call it a sober. birthday. Happy belated sober birthday. Here's a thing. With sobriety, you gotta face up to certain truths. Way to go. Lightning, 20 years. 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. I love that, nostalgia pays.

Yeah. 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. Thanks. I don't read him either, but thanks. I'm going to stop now. That's awesome.

So what was it like? I'm just going to call you after everything. Okay, yeah, please do. Which one shall I read? Only the good ones. Only the good ones. So tell me this. What did it feel like interpreting someone who is interpreting someone else? 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've got to strip all that away. I've got to become Mike and then Mike becoming Neil and it was a challenge. You got to strip away Hugh to become Mike who becomes Neil. 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 particularly as a performer and I came up with things. I was just trying to feel him.

And obviously I had the documentary to go on. So I had a lot of footage. And I would talk particularly with Rachel, 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 like, you know, both of us, I got a phone call from Neil and Katie, Neil Diamond and Katie's wife.

and they'd just seen the movie and Neil was crying the real Neil Diamond yeah yeah and I did the very Australian thing I said can I come and see you and have a cup of tea

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 and he goes he did good kid oh my nice I can retire okay I'm done I'm done here But somehow it meant a lot to him

The movie's also By default, a love letter to him 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 But he knew the story There was a standing ticket He knew about them, right?

He obviously knew them There was a standing ticket for Claire For years And Claire went to so many And always went back and met Neil And he just said, I love the story Here's the rights to my music Oh, my goodness.

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 hope his music has a whole other life to it after people see this. Well, it certainly does at my house right now. Yeah, 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 this was a good note, that this movie is a good note to go out? Oh, my God. Yeah, that was me on the line, on the, yeah, Katie, with the FaceTime, and he said that to me. And Katie and I were like, well, don't say that, you know. But it was, this movie means a lot to him.

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 it sort of being that love letter to him. Well, you've been singing for years. Yeah. I know Gail told me when you were here, she went to see him. She went to see it. So what does it feel like for you to now to have the world recognize your singing voice through this film? I mean, amazing. I just love to sing.

Like, I think that's where I relate to Claire, you know, I 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 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. Can I, can I drop some names? It's a name because I actually met him at your place, Quincy Jones. Can I tell that story?

Sure. 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. Yeah, I was like, no, Mom. And at the end of the night, Quincy rolled down his windows. He said, over it. He goes, you're a singer.

You need to sing. And for... Forever. For ever, Quincy just was like, why aren't you in the studio? You need to get in the studio. Really? So I'm thrilled at the audience. Quincy Jones says that to you.

He was always... I take him at his word. Yes. I thought about him a lot when I got in the studio to make my album because he, you know, there's certain people along the way that are cheerleaders and, like, really kind of are these people that you're like, maybe I should be doing this, you know? And he was one of them.

But that was one of the, you know, you need to get in the studio, girl. He's saying all the time, you get in the studio. 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. From very, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Something about the hair, I think. Something about the hair. All the hair. A lot of hair. Really.

Did the hair make you connect to Neil? Every time you put that wig on, does something happen? And there's two wigs. He noticed there's the Mike wig at the beginning. Yes. And then when he decides to become Neil. The interpreter. I just loved it because I could feel a Mike just going, yeah.

This is great. And when I see that shot, it just looks so hilarious. Yeah. And just like give me some leafblowers. 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, it really helped me get into his carriage. I had the same with Claire. I mean, we called it the Claire hair. Like, when Claire hair got on, and I did hot rollers every morning, and I chose to use my own hair, and we fend it out and made it look crazy. But when I got the rollers on and they'd come out, it was just like, wow. Claire is here.

She's here. She's a ride. Yeah. Yeah. And my hairdresser, Johnny Vee, who's brilliant, was very special. specific with like hair the hair journey clare's hair journey um but you know yeah well i think that both of your accents and extraordinary for you mr ossie to get that wisconsin accent and you kate you really nailed that wisconsin thing thank you you did just enough 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 yeah i heard that you blended the real Claire's accent with the accent of somebody that you've known for well. Yeah. So crazy story. I had a nanny from 9 to 15. Kathy Heller, who I loved more than anything, Wisconsin, born, raised in Milwaukee. And then when I was 21 and started getting work, a lot of work, I was very weary about having help and trusting people. And so I called her and I was like, would you ever come help me and assist me? You called the woman who was your nanny. 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 give you, okay, six months. 27 years later, she just retired, went back to Milwaukee. Wow. I was a lot of Kathy and Claire. So, yeah, I was raised and nurtured and loved and connected to a very, a very Milwaukee accent. Yeah, I know we have a few Midwesterners in the audience today. Raise your hands.

Tell us how you think Kate did with that accent, yeah? You think she's okay? 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. And I didn't expect that. I went into the film blind. So as somebody born and raised in Milwaukee, it also was really great.

Were you not a black person who loved Neil Diamond, too? So I was not a black person who loved Neil Diamond, but I definitely. have my fair share of genres that were not similar to those the people in my neighborhood listen to. But I would definitely say the accent, you nailed it. You nailed it. 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. Thank you so much. I also used to get jimmies, like the sprinkles and custard. We used to get them shipped from Wisconsin as a kid because I love Jimmy so much.

And they're better in Wisconsin. A classic. A classic. So I hear you. I hear that. Thank you so much. Well, there's somebody else here. Kathy, what did you think of the accent?

Stop! No. Yes. I thought she was amazing. Just amazing. I love it. Oh, that's so awesome. Hello, it was my accent.

It was wonderful. Oh, thank you. I loved every word you said. Oh. I have to tell you, I loved every word you said. It was like special to me, so out of the whole movie. Hi! Kathy Heller, everybody.

This is the Kathy Heller. I know. I know. Yes, yes, yes. You called her to tell her that you wanted her to go to the premiere. Not yet. I was talking with Brad backstage. I was like, I got to get Kathy and her sister out in December. Oh, okay.

the movie and to be here. Hi, you look amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Retirement's been good. Because it looks good. Did you know she was using you for the accent? 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 Okay, so... Why didn't you say no at the beginning? With her?

Yeah. Because I was her nanny for six years, six, seven years, and all of a sudden she was going to be my boss. And I was like, I don't know how this dynamic's going to work. Yeah. So I did say no, and I said no more than once, too. Oh, she sure did. I can imagine that you used to be your nanny, and now she's going to be your boss.

I would think about that, too. I did. I did. But it seems to have worked out for you, Kathy. It did. the best. We had so much fun. So much fun. And every Christmas, all I could think I was, 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. Okay. Did you just see the movie? I did.

And 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. 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? It was. I mean, it felt a bit. It was funny. The other day, Kate turned to me, and someone was saying something like that. Yeah. And Kate said, and it was easy. It just felt easy from the jump.

From the first day we got together. 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 to pick me up. Be right back. Thanks for joining me on the Oprah podcast. I'm with a dynamic duo of Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson,

who starred together in a triumphant love story, Song, Song, Blue. And I saw it an Instagram post where you had said that if there was one word to describe Kate, it would be congruent. Yes? Yeah. Yeah.

Why? 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, you go, 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 at actors, and then when you meet them in life, there feels like there may be a barrier or their second get. 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 is life in it 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 take it receive it receive it receive it and you also hold everyone around 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. Thanks, Hugh.

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. Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Tell you, Mom and Girl, we can't stay in law. We got things we got to care.

Catch up on. D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D. Mm, you know, you know what I'll say. Excuse me. Much too late for anyone to be singing that love. Ma, this is the man I was telling you about Mike Sardina. This is Lightning. How you doing tonight?

Not good. Sing softer. I heard that you screened this with your mom and your paw. Yeah. And what happened? They were very emotional. I never heard... Your mom, Goldie Hawn, your pa, Kurt Russell.

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, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you know. And then he got very emotional and he's my toughest critic. he's he really is like he does and aren't you your toughest critic I'm my tough where you're 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 I was able to like lose sight of the fact that it was yes I was able to actually take in the story in the movie and like you like I said it made me miss movies I I could watch it again like we were saying very rarely I could watch this movie over and over again and I intend to and not and not And not feel a personal connection to it anymore. I could watch it as an experience, which is very rare. I know. I mean, I said, 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 hope you all go, don't you want to now tell everybody? You 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. Yeah.

What do you want to say about the phenomenal supporting cast? 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, who plays Rachel, who is... People will know her from a Nickelodeon show. She's phenomenal.

Michael Imperioly, who you probably know from the Sopranos, who's phenomenal. Hudson, Henley, who plays... My little son. youngest younger yeah who else we got in there he's the one doing the film yeah oh k p michaela we all hung out together so we were actually really felt like didn't it feel like a family it felt like yeah yeah and that's why i'm so glad it's coming out on christmas date because for me it really is about family yeah and i think that's why it's emotional and and i sort of love that this

story i was talking with eddie veta 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 through a movie and that's sort of how I was like yeah Eddie it's like I'm telling everyone to see the movie and I'm not that kind of guy I'm not the guy's like you've got to see it but 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 yeah don't stop 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. 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 get to go some places for that? I went, whoa. Yeah, I got 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 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. Yeah.

And I was saying 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 something you're channeling versus something you're trying to make happen. It's why we're so addicted to performing whether it's on stage and you're singing or hitting a note or whether it's

some of the tough scenes we had together. When you're in a pocket like that, there's something about it that it just feels like it's a channel and you know with that comes all of the work that goes into getting there and understanding that part of human. 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, you're rooting for the guy to win. So did you have to go someplace to tap into all the, there's so many multiple layers for both of you. So Mike was 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 to 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 of 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, well, you know, 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 it's got to happen now. And sometimes that was to his detriment. Like, you see that scene with the biker bar.

He's like, no, this is our set and this is what we're doing. And it doesn't turn out well. But I think just that, in a way. I love that biker bar where they play soon. Yeah, right. Because Sulemon, I love that song, Sulemon, I was like, just got to play it there. No, exactly. 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. It was a really, so I relate to him, but in many ways, I'm inspired by him because he kept the dream going. He couldn't say no. He just kept going.

And that scene of 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. And he's rescued by his partner. They rescue each other. And there is like this sense of sort of the beautiful side of codependency. These are two people who really struggled,

one with alcoholism and one with, you know, depression. Yeah. And I think Craig as a writer did such a wonderful job of like, you know, understanding what it is to have those, that struggle. but never like being inspired by it versus it bringing you down into the you know and the whole time you're thinking this is a true story this is a true story yeah yeah yeah no i find myself i've been in a few screenings now i want to yell at did that really happen no no no that really

happened everything really happened because it's so unbelievable yeah yeah i mean we all have things our life that come out of the blue but somehow these two got they got a truckload for and what they go through. I mean, she's just standing in front of her house, which we won't say what that is. After the break, a little surprise for some true blue, Neil Diamond fans and Latinan and Thunder fans in Milwaukee. That's next. This episode of the Oprah podcast is brought to you by booking.com. Listing your vacation rental and booking.com opens the door to more guests. Booking.com is one of the most downloaded travel apps in the world. That makes it the place to list your vacation rentals if you want to earn more with consistent bookings, reach new markets, and turn hosting.

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yours. For the bookings you've dreamed of, list your property on booking.com. 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? Do you have a question? Yes. Hello. Hi. How did you develop your amazing on-screen chemistry? 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.

Especially our producer. John Davis was a mess. He's done 117 movies. 117 movies, and he was crying. I have never ever cried ever before at a reading. So you had read the whole thing? This is where you all sit around the table? And we just sat there, and we had some ones. there were some sandwiches, some Jersey mics or something,

and we were sitting there, and you and I were just sitting next to each other, and I remember Kate turned him in, 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. No. You're a connector.

Connect. And some actors who are brilliant, and as soon as the camera's not rolling, They don't want to talk. They're separate. There's an exclusiveness. 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. Yeah. Within hours, we knew each other's entire life story. The most intimate parts of, you know, and. It's a bit of a therapist. So, I guess, it's a lot of free therapy.

So, Kate, when you finished the reading and you said that to him, This movie only works if we worked. 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. 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... That's why it doesn't feel like acting. Depth. That's why you both deserve mini awards.

Because none of it feels like acting. None of it feels like acting. 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. You know, we can, yeah. But this needed something deeper than two actors meeting. Oh, they get on great. It needed a trust, yeah, and intimacy, I guess.

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? I think that, I think what you said, did you have to work at it? I didn't. I wonder, are we going to discover something?

No, 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 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 as the right word,

but also generosity. Hugh, like, my son said this, writer said this about Hugh. He's like, mom, if St. Hood was still sort of a thing, I think he would be a saint. Right? Yeah. And he really meant that because he, and Ryder said, his words, not mine was,

your generosity of spirit is so, it's so powerful, it's so incredible. And 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, you haven't really expressed. No.

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 to actually, to crack that thing, to crack that. Experience that with you, which is, you know, I've met you multiple times throughout our, you know, careers. But there was just a newness in you, a different thing. And I think we just met each other at this, met each other. the right time and it came out and yeah therapist yeah yeah I can hear you receive 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 yeah yeah and I I felt it with the director as well with Craig yeah because you went somewhere we haven't seen you go before you did yeah and I look up and screen I go oh I feel I'm seeing more more of me that I feel than I've ever seen on screen. So I think it comes with trust, it comes with some humility, it comes with life. Your work, too. And the work, my own work, 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. 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, and Sweet Caroline. Sweet Caroline, yeah, but I'm never going to be the real McCoy.

I mean, I don't really look like Neil. I don't even really sound like Neil. I've got to 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 a Neil Diamond interpreter. 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. 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, there was a little more planned. 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 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 of my life. 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.

I started crying when you all played play me together for the most time. Did you all not? Oh, my God. And that shot how he goes around of the thing. Oh, my God. That was Kurt's first guy. Really?

Yes. That was in my dad. That's Craig Brewer. Remember what he did with Hustle and Flo? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tragia B. Hanson and Terrence Howard, that moment where they start to make a song and you feel something magic happen.

Oh, I, that's exactly what happened here. He did it here again. Yeah, Craig. Yeah. Balushi said this at 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. And you, you said in the CBS Morning piece that you tried out for every musical and been turned down. I know. Every one, everything that had anything to do with music, I was like, I would love to do it. Some I got to do. Some I did it. But, yeah, I think Craig,

Craig, though, has such an amazing connection to music himself. And so you can sing it live. Craig's like, we're going to, we'll do it live. Because if we're going to capture a magic moment, it has to be captured there. Well, Mike Sardina, Lightning, passed away in 2006, but Claire, Thunder, is still alive. She's still doing it. Has she seen the movie?

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

Yeah. I guess they're, you know, where we go down. Yeah. But she's just so great. They're so happy. It makes me so happy that she's. Yeah. 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... I love when he goes, I'm huge, baby. Yeah, I'm huge, baby, I'm huge. Yeah. And, I mean, I wish he could experience this, but this is, I guess, exactly...

Oh, he's the way it was supposed to be. He's up there, mate, we made this all happen. Yeah, yeah. He was like when 13th studio said, no, Mike's up there, I got, oh... Hold on for the 14th, yes. This is going to be huge. This is going to be huge.

Okay, so I have a little surprise. Is it my nanny? No, it's not. That's true, because I didn't have one. No, 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.

Oh, my gosh. They think, okay, I'm going to 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, 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 their best friends, Christy and her husband Casey, are joining us on Zoom from Wisconsin. They're all born and raised in the Milwaukee area. Christy, I want to ask you first. I hear you're all big fans of Neil Diamond. And, you know, 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? 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. It was, you know, not only fun with your group, but the whole bar joining in and singing. So they really were great connectors and a lot of fun to see for sure.

Was it just in Milwaukee? Was it a Milwaukee thing only? They also were in Chicago. I had friends from college that also would go see them for the weekends. So, you know, this area, they would hit. So, Barb, what was it about lightning and thunder and the whole Neil Diamond music that you love, that attracted you? 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. I think that is so fun. You know what is even more fun? That we know it's your birthday, Barb.

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. Hi. Hi. That's amazing. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday, bar.

It's my mom's birthday tomorrow, so this is cool. And I know you have a surprise for me, Hugh. What's the surprise? What is my surprise? Okay. 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.

And you're bringing all of your friends and family. That is so awesome. Thank you, Hugh. And Chase. So when they say you should read these notes, you really should read the notes? I knew about you guys. Anyway, we're so thrilled.

I've been planning it for a long time. And, you know, I spoke to the manager. Everything's going to be great. And Kate's taking care of all the popcorn, all of it, all the concessions. Don't worry about it. A lot of garlands. Yeah, I love so many Christmas decorations. It's going to 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 going to have so much fun. You want to dance in the aisles during the show. Well, you'll be able to do that. You'll be able to do that. Thank you. Oh, it's so great.

Thank you all so much. Thank you, guys. Happy birthday. Awesome. How fun. A rented-out theater with your... That sounds so much fun, like so much fun. I know.

I love it. So great. Didn't you think that was a good idea? I thought it's awesome. I took an idea. Oh, good. Thanks. And it was so sweet of you to try and give it to me.

I was trying to give it to me. 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. The story in many ways is it could be anyone. 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 the unit 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 going to dream even a huger Yeah, and then when a terrible, anything bad shows up in your life, you just pick yourself up and you keep going. And pick each other up. And pick each other. And the unit, the unit gets us through everything.

Yeah. And I also think that there's something really amazing about that it really honors like the tip jar musician. It honors the people who. Because all those people who were in the scenes with you in the beginning, those people were real people that were on that circuit, right? Yes, that's what I heard. 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 was it Killian Murphy who said, 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 being a musician. That's right. If you love the music.

you do it. And I think there's a big love story to that, to people who have a drive to whether it's, yeah, I think that's what's so motivating about it is that ultimately it's a big love story, right? Yeah. Big love story. Yeah. Well, thank you, Hugh and Cainle for stopping by. Love you so much. Guys, song, song, blues in theaters everywhere, Christmas Day. I think it's just it's a great sea 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.

Thanks, OK. Good, dear, dear, dear, dear, dear. I am, wait to see it again! I've one little story. What, what? Can I tell you a little story? I want to hear the story. 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. So good. You have no idea how often we say so good in life. Try that at home. 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.

Like if you say, this food, this, all of eating, 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 this. If I hear it, I do it all the time. It's so great. And he loves it. It wasn't something in the original song.

It just came out. It happened in performance and the crowd started. Someone picked it up. And then everybody does it all over the world. Isn't it the, isn't music the best language? It is the best. But I just saw a video on YouTube of like 60,000 people in a stadium in Germany singing Sweet Carolina.

I mean, it is the official national anthem of white people. It is for sure. That, this it is. So good. So good. So good. So good. All right.

Go well, everybody. See you next time. Song, strong blue. Sleeping like a pillow. Oh, yeah. Sleeping on my pillow. Slum, song, long, blue sleeping on my pillow. 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.