Power Ballad co-writer and star Peter McDonald spoke with ComingSoon about the hilarious Paul Rudd movie, which is out now on Digital.
“When Rick (Paul Rudd), a past-his-prime wedding singer, meets fading boy-band star Danny (Nick Jonas) during a gig, the two bond over music and a late-night jam session. But when Danny turns one of Rick’s songs into the hit that reignites his career, Rick sets out to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserves — even if it means risking everything he cares about. From writer-director John Carney (Sing Street, Once), Power Ballad is a feel-good story about music, self-respect, friendship, and the price of ambition,” says the synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Peter, congrats on Power Ballad. It’s such a pleasure to speak with you about it. I wanted to ask you about your friendship with John Carney and what made you want to write this film together. What was the genesis of Power Ballad?
Peter McDonald: We’ve known each other since we were teenagers. When we started out, we made our first short films together, but we never actually got a chance to make a feature together, which we always wanted to do. That was the initial thing.
I play guitar, I’m very into music, and I used to play in bands, as did John. Like John’s other films, we knew it would be about musicians and songwriters. But we wanted it to be about the kind of musician who’s probably a little over the hill, and maybe any significant music career is long in the rearview mirror. We wanted to set it in that world in Dublin. Then we came on the idea of what if a guy who was a songwriter never made it in the music business felt that he had a song misappropriated from him or stolen from him, and what would happen in that circumstance.
You and John are both musicians, and I feel like this film feels so authentic as a result. How was it reaching into your past ambitions and experiences as musicians to add those little touches to the script and the film? It feels so lived in as a result.
John’s such a brilliant musician. He lives and breathes music. He himself is always expressing himself through music, so that’s very second nature to him. The career he’s carved out for himself with these kinds of stories seems completely natural, and therefore it feels very authentic.
Because I started out in that same world, we were very simpatico, and we didn’t really have to overexplain that. I think we just assumed the audience would understand. When a character expresses themselves through music rather than dialogue or action, it operates on a different level. Not that it’s higher or lower, but it’s an ineffable level that people immediately understand in terms of storytelling.
You act in the film as well. I love your character, Sandy. He’s a real ride-or-die friend. What do you like most about that earnest quality that he has? Everybody needs a Sandy in their life.
Yeah, well, he’s a bit of a loose cannon as well, so he can be a difficult friend at times. But I think for Sandy, what seems like a very complicated situation to Rick is seen through Sandy’s eyes as a lot less complicated. Really, that’s what you need from friends: a different perspective on things and someone who looks you in the eye and says, “It’s okay. I’m here, and I’m going to go to bat for you.”
What he does in the last chapter of the story becomes very clear for him. He needs that catharsis, and Rick wouldn’t have gotten there without Sandy. He was a very important character within the structure of the story.
The second half of this film is basically you and Paul Rudd doing a buddy comedy, like a road trip situation. How was it working so closely with Paul? You get to spend so many scenes with him, and you guys play off each other so well.
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed that stuff. I knew Paul from before because he did an episode of a series called Moone Boy that I made here in Ireland that was created by Chris O’Dowd. I met him then, and we kind of got to know each other.
Paul is just so similar to us in terms of his sense of humor, his interests in life, and what’s important to him. He absolutely loves music. He would reference Irish bands from the ’80s that I would’ve had no idea he knew about. I’d go, “How the hell do you know?”
I knew very early on in meeting him that this was a guy to whom music meant so much. We were just natural friends and collaborators. When all that Sandy and Rick stuff was happening, we didn’t have to talk about it too much. The writing just gelled with who we were as people and how we were performing the parts, which is always the best way. If there’s any chemistry, you don’t have to sit down and break it down. If you’re sitting there trying to work out the math of it, there’s no chemistry.
Tyler Treese: Some of the early highlights in the film are when the wedding band is doing all these covers, and there are montages of them. Did you actually learn all the songs for the montage performances?
Peter McDonald: We did, yeah.
Did you actually play on the soundtrack, or did they get studio musicians?
Most of it is studio musicians, but I learned how to play the guitar parts, so it looks like I’m playing them.
Since you’re also the co-writer and one of the stars, what’s been most rewarding about seeing the reaction to Power Ballad and people really getting to enjoy it in theaters?
Well, that’s why you make them. Seeing people go with the story, laugh at it, be entertained by it, and most importantly, be moved by it is something you’d do for free. Not that I’m going to, but that’s what you hope happens when people go and spend their money at the cinema.
I think one of my favorite scenes in the film is when you’re at the party at Nick Genesis’ character’s house, and you’re just rocking out and interacting with all the socialites. You’re such a fish out of water, and every single moment was so funny. How was filming those sequences?
We didn’t know if we were going to get away with all that. By that stage, you know who Sandy is and that he’s a bit of a wild card, but also that his heart’s in the right place.
It was great fun. Given what Rick is going through, it could have gone quite dark, but that wasn’t the movie we were aiming to make, especially given the song and what it’s about. Having that side of the entertainment balancing what’s happening with Rick and Danny was really important in terms of keeping the story up in the air.
It was great fun to do all that, and playing Sandy is very liberating because he’s got such freedom of spirit. You can kind of say and do anything as Sandy, which I often did.
I know you directed a short film once. Do you have any desire to get behind the camera again, maybe for a feature, or are you happy acting and writing?
Yeah, I made a few short films, one that did quite well. I also co-wrote another film with another collaborator of mine a few years ago. But yeah, I’m in the process of trying to put together a feature that I’m directing myself at the moment.
Thanks to Peter McDonald for taking the time to talk about Power Ballad.
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