- 15 minutes ago
The 'Power Ballad' co-stars reveal the hilarious, heartfelt dynamic behind their friendship, swapping stories about first impressions, fatherhood and favorite projects
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00:00If you were writing a song about our friendship, what would it be called?
00:04It would be called, I Got a Question, based on this game.
00:10Hey.
00:11Something like, I got a question, and you got the answer.
00:19God damn.
00:23What did you know about me before we both joined this project?
00:27Wow.
00:28Danny Wilson.
00:30You were great up there.
00:30Come with me.
00:31I knew a lot about you.
00:32I'd seen you in films.
00:34I knew your music.
00:36You're a big deal, Nick.
00:38And so I was, and I also, because we have some mutual friends, I was excited to meet you,
00:45and I knew that you had kind of a tweaked sense of humor, because some of the stuff that our
00:51friends were saying, I found that to be the case.
00:53And you knew that I was a big fan of yours.
00:56I just assumed.
00:58Yeah, you just assumed.
00:58What do you remember about first meeting me?
01:03We were in the suite in the movie, Power Ballad.
01:08And it was our entrance into the suite, and there was like these big curtains, and I remember
01:15you just sort of appeared out of the curtains, just arrived into the scene.
01:19And it was a really, quite a movie star entrance, and I was struck.
01:26And then we talked about my favorite movie of yours that came together, which I have
01:32a signed poster in my home, because one of our mutual friends, Jack McPrior, arranged this for my birthday on
01:40my, I think it was my 30th birthday, to get you all to sign it.
01:42So thank you.
01:43That blew me away, because Jack did.
01:45He came to the set, he said, this is for Nick's birthday, and that you loved that movie.
01:51What are you doing here?
01:52I'm a regular here.
01:54Yeah, regular beanbag.
01:56I was like, he knows this movie?
01:58And I was really touched by that.
02:01What is your favorite Jonas Brothers song, and why?
02:04Jealous?
02:05I mean, come on.
02:06Why?
02:07As if I have to explain.
02:08I'm trying to be hellish, I still get Jonas.
02:14Technically, not a Jonas Brothers song.
02:16It's a solo song, but yeah, we'll still take it.
02:19You're Jonas to me, baby.
02:22What sort of songwriting experience did you have before this movie?
02:26None.
02:27Songwriting, none.
02:28Have you ever improvised something in a movie that was sort of a song?
02:32Yeah.
02:33Yeah.
02:34Slap at the bass, kind of?
02:35Yeah.
02:36Slap at the bass, mama.
02:37I'm slapping the bass, mama.
02:39There you go.
02:40Slap at that bass, mama.
02:41I slap at that piazza.
02:43Please don't do that.
02:44In Role Models, I sing Beth from Kiss, but I change the words.
02:51Beth, I hear you calling, but I can't come home right now.
02:57I had to write the lyrics out because I was trying to revise it and stuff,
03:03but it was about the writer's strike was happening,
03:06and so all of these rules of what you're not allowed to do,
03:12and so I'm like, can I improvise?
03:15I don't know what, like, which I would do sometimes just acting.
03:18I did a take, and I was kind of freestyling.
03:23And you crushed it?
03:24Well, thank you.
03:26I don't think I did, but I was also like, what's legal to do?
03:30That might be totally legal.
03:32I might have just outed myself to the writer's guild.
03:34And I miss you so much.
03:38Your beautiful smile and your positive attitude and your whispering eye.
03:44This is a great question.
03:45What's the most taken-from-your-life pop star moment in this movie?
03:50There's quite literally some footage that they repurposed from my actual life as the character, Danny Wilson.
04:00So much so that I'm wondering if they got approval for that, because...
04:04I'm guessing no.
04:05I'm probably not.
04:06I think they probably just lifted it.
04:07Yeah, and you know what?
04:08It's out there in the world.
04:10For the longest time, they can take it.
04:11But that, and then I would say, I've had a lot of nights kind of similar to our character's first
04:16night meeting and hanging out,
04:19where, you know, there's a few drinks and ideas being thrown around.
04:24And that's kind of the fun of the setup of this movie, I think, is that that's how it really
04:28can happen.
04:30And it's easy to see a scenario in which someone could say,
04:34oh, a week or two later, I remember this idea I had the other night,
04:37not remembering that it came from a sort of drunken, weed-smoking night,
04:43and then all of a sudden there's this crazy conflict.
04:46So luckily, I've never had that experience.
04:50But certainly, you know, that songwriting process...
04:53What was that like?
04:53So like when you're writing with your brothers, when you were young and first starting,
04:57you guys were writing together, how did that happen?
04:59Were you just like, oh, we're all in, let's meet in Nick's room.
05:04It was in our basement in New Jersey to start.
05:08We would go down there, just a couple guitars, maybe a keyboard,
05:13and just hours and hours just kind of like trying to get the song right.
05:16And then eventually, when we were on the road, it was a hotel room,
05:20back of cars, like just wherever we could.
05:23Now, you know, I think because we're traveling, we have our families and everything,
05:27and we kind of set aside time to do it.
05:30For instance, next week, we have a bunch of songwriting sessions set up,
05:35and it's kind of a better structure for life to happen and to get the best song.
05:39Because every song I ever wrote in my life
05:45is about you.
05:50So good.
05:51Were you nervous about singing in this movie?
05:54I was, yeah, I was nervous.
05:56Like I said, I've sung in movies before, but it's always silly.
06:01And when you're doing something kind of funny, you're giving a lot of leeway.
06:05I was going to be doing it with you and John Carney, who's, you know, a musician in his own
06:12right.
06:12And so this job is always nerve-wracking, acting, singing, doing anything.
06:17You're kind of putting yourself out there, and you just kind of, you know,
06:21close your eyes and jump in the deep end.
06:23So that's what I did.
06:24But, yeah, it was a little bit of a nervousness for sure.
06:28Well, you blew everybody away on set.
06:30Thank you, Nick.
06:31So do you have a bridge yet?
06:33No, man.
06:34I've been working on that.
06:35That thing's dogging me for years.
06:37We could finish this right now.
06:38I wish.
06:38No, I can't.
06:39I got to go.
06:40My daughter has got to get to school.
06:42Wait, wait, wait, wait.
06:43My wife has worked.
06:44What song is the hottest toddler jam in your house right now?
06:49Ooh.
06:51Well, she's four.
06:53Our daughter's four, and she's got a pretty wide range in, you know, music that she likes.
07:01Recently, she was introduced to Country Road, take me home to the place.
07:06I belong, West Virginia.
07:11And she's been singing it nonstop, and there's nothing cuter than a little four-year-old singing
07:15that song.
07:16That's pretty cute.
07:17Yeah.
07:19Speaking of parenting, as a fellow girl dad, what's the best piece of advice you'd give
07:23me?
07:26Well, I think you're probably doing a good job.
07:29And I would, as far as advice, I'd say, just be there, right?
07:34Yeah.
07:35Let them know that you're, this is like, I'm not going to give parenting advice for this.
07:40I'll tell you.
07:41No, no, we'll talk about it later.
07:45I'll give you a crib sheet that I filled out.
07:47I have it on my fridge.
07:50Perfect.
07:51And I'm like, wait a minute, should I, uh, again, I'm going to stop this line of jokes
07:58before I start it.
08:00The way my brain works is to immediately think of the most unsayable, horrible, just like
08:08dark, disgusting joke.
08:13And the pauses that I take, and I take a lot of pauses, as you, as you can tell, is
08:18me
08:19doing the math in my head as to, do I say it or how, like, do I back up, back
08:24up?
08:25And it, it's usually a long pause because it's like, oh no, I got to keep backing up.
08:29I'm not even going to say it.
08:30That is why we love it.
08:30Oh, no.
08:32That, that specifically.
08:33It's, it's, it's, it's, well, then I'll tell you my sick jokes when we're done filming.
08:39What's the best parenting advice you received?
08:42Was it my advice to you?
08:45To when you think you should say, you shouldn't say something, just back it up.
08:48Just back it up because, you know.
08:50It's not advice that I've received.
08:52It's, it's what I've observed from my own parents and, and, you know, my, my brothers
08:58and people I respect.
08:59Um, in the same way that it's, it's awkward.
09:02I, I agree to give someone.
09:04Right.
09:04Parenting advice, um, because everyone has their own journey with it.
09:07And it's, it's a very personal thing.
09:11I, I've, I've been fortunate enough to get to watch the people I love raise their children
09:16and, and, and, you know, raise me and my brothers.
09:19And, and that is just in action and the, what they've done and who they are.
09:23That is the best advice I've, I've taken in.
09:25Yeah.
09:26You kind of know it when you hear it, don't you?
09:28I mean, like, I just read this thing that it was like, you gotta be, it's really important
09:34to let your kids make mistakes as a parent you want to get in and kind of fix everything
09:39and make sure everything's okay.
09:40But they really need to figure out and negotiate disappointment and these kinds of things.
09:44And it's important to back off.
09:46Yeah.
09:47And I remember once reading something that Julia Roberts said that I was like, oh my God,
09:51that's, of course, she's so smart.
09:53Uh, she said, the best thing that I can do for my children is to love their dad.
09:57Mm, it's beautiful.
09:59Yeah.
10:00Julia Roberts.
10:01Julia Roberts.
10:02She knows, she gets it.
10:04In this film, we have a physical fight.
10:06I think it is easy to turn a song into a...
10:09What do you remember from shooting that scene?
10:11And who do you think would win if we actually fought?
10:15Um, well, I remember a lot from when we were filming it.
10:19One, it was cold and...
10:21It was cold.
10:21And you had...
10:22My underwear.
10:23...wet and you were in your underwear.
10:25I negotiated to get a hoodie on because otherwise I would have been truly just...
10:28Yeah, it was terrible.
10:30Um, but you threw yourself into it and you were, you were, it's very impressive.
10:35You were great in that scene.
10:37And, um, it's completely raw and emotional and I was kind of knocked out.
10:42Um, both physically and in terms of your acting ability.
10:47If we got into a fight, I think just the very nature of who you are and the nature of
10:51who I am,
10:53we, uh, we wouldn't ever even bring ourselves to do it.
10:56Yeah, I would just be like, you know what?
10:58Let's just stop.
10:59Let's just stop.
10:59What are we chilling?
11:00I'm sorry.
11:00I'm sorry, too.
11:01You're the best.
11:02You're the best.
11:03Let's get a beer.
11:04Technically, you could say no one would win.
11:06But I like to look at it as, uh, we...
11:07We both won.
11:08We both win.
11:10Violence, violence is, you never, it doesn't solve anything.
11:14Except in the most extreme circumstances.
11:18As a former sexiest man alive.
11:20It makes it, it's kind of like as a former, as a, as a...
11:24By the way, it's not wrong.
11:27As a person...
11:29Emphasis on former.
11:30As a sexiest man alive...
11:31Yes.
11:32...person.
11:33What is your advice for me?
11:36What is your advice for me, Nick Jones?
11:38To be more sexy is the question.
11:40Jesus Christ.
11:42I don't think...
11:43I don't think you have any trouble there, Nick.
11:47Just let him out.
11:51Let him hang.
11:52Let him hang, bro.
11:53By the way, and that's, that's the G-rated version of that joke.
11:56Let him hang.
11:57Let him hang.
11:58Get, get him some air.
12:03I didn't specify what.
12:05I don't know where your sick minds were going.
12:08Yeah.
12:09Could be my, my teeth.
12:11Yeah, you've got a gorgeous smile.
12:13It's, it's so, it's timeless.
12:16It's so sexy.
12:17Get him out.
12:18Show him.
12:20Un, unzip those lips and flash him.
12:25What's the biggest difference between leaving your trailer for a scene versus hitting the
12:30stage for a set?
12:32I mean, it's the same, it's the same thing at the end of the day.
12:35You're, you're, you're putting on a performance.
12:38You're, you're, you know, opening up the walls of, of your sort of personal life and experience
12:44to everyone else to kind of engage with.
12:46The only difference is, and this is actually not all that interesting, but the only difference
12:50is, before a show, I'm relaxed.
12:53I might have a little cocktail, get the vibe right.
12:56For a scene, I'm not doing that.
12:58Right.
12:59Right.
12:59I'm not doing that.
13:01No, of course not.
13:02Of course not.
13:02We never did that.
13:04No.
13:04We never did.
13:05But that's only because it's really hard to find alcohol in Ireland.
13:10What's the fanciest or most luxurious item on your rider?
13:15Ants on a log.
13:17That's a real thing.
13:18You really, you.
13:19I really have that on the rider.
13:20It's not luxurious or fancy, but it is to me.
13:24It's celery, almond butter or peanut butter, and, and raisins.
13:29It's delicious.
13:30It's good protein.
13:32Gets me jacked before the show.
13:35Jacked.
13:36You know, it's funny.
13:37I don't, I don't have a rider.
13:38There's nothing I don't demand, but there are some things I like to have.
13:42I like to have gum.
13:44I chew a lot of gum.
13:46Yeah.
13:47Which is kind of gross.
13:48But when I was, when I started doing those Marvel movies and I just was on a very strict
13:56diet and I wasn't eating and I thought I, so I chewed gum.
13:59And then I never really kind of like stopped.
14:01Um, I'm an Altoids guy.
14:05Great.
14:06I mean.
14:06Great.
14:07Just pounding the Altoids on set.
14:13I also love mushroom chocolates.
14:17Is there a song that you are professionally jealous of that was almost yours or a song that you really
14:23wish you had written?
14:25There's plenty of songs I wish I had written and I've, I've kind of mentioned a few of those
14:29going back to things like a Beatles classic or things like that to more recent things like attention by Charlie
14:37Puth.
14:42I wish we had that song, but there are, there are a few and I don't want to name them
14:46because they're with those other artists now.
14:49And they're, they're songs, but songs that I cut vocals on that then went a different direction.
14:54Kind of like, almost like an audition.
14:56This is a thing that some actors have to do, not, not you obviously, but you have to go in
15:02and audition for the director.
15:03Oh my gosh.
15:04Yeah.
15:04No, I do that too.
15:06Yeah.
15:07Yeah.
15:08I mean, rarely, but I do do it.
15:11Um, but yeah, I lost those songs and that was a bummer because you hear on the radio and go,
15:15that should have been me.
15:16I could tell within two minutes of meeting you, you are not just some boy band guy.
15:21And you are too good for that wedding band.
15:23I learned that you could be an incredibly talented musician and still be like the coolest, nicest guy.
15:31Nick, that is you.
15:33You have a real way of conveying, um, emotion and showing exactly what your character is thinking without saying anything,
15:42which is just the best thing to be able to do when you're acting.
15:48Um, so I, I, uh, I was really impressed.
15:53I know how to do that too.
15:55So I didn't really learn it from you, but, uh, but I, I did.
15:59I, I'm only kidding.
16:00I was like, ah, really good at that.
16:03And, uh, I gotta, I gotta try that.
16:06I gotta steal that.
16:07That's very kind.
16:09Um, as far as what I learned from, from you on set, um, there's so many things.
16:17I mean, one of the, the most exciting parts of, of stepping into this, this film with you,
16:25but, but specifically just any acting projects I've been fortunate enough to do is you, you kind of do learn
16:32something from everybody.
16:32And you mentioned some stories about beyond some Jack Nicholson, other people you've worked with.
16:36It's just so cool to see that even at your level and with your experience, that there's still that ability
16:42to, to, to kind of be a sponge.
16:44And I, I tried to do that with you so much so to the point where on my latest film
16:48that I just finished, White Elephant, with the, another co-star of yours, Catherine Newton.
16:53Yeah.
16:53I was talking about little things I saw you doing and I actually found myself in one take doing something
16:59that was like something you might do.
17:01Um, and I was like, well, you know, what a cool thing to get to just be that sponge and,
17:05and continue to, to learn and grow.
17:07Well, it's, man, thanks.
17:10Back, back at you, dude.
17:12There is, there were things that you would do, um, and now I feel bad that I was even making
17:18a, even a silly joke about it.
17:20I know how to do it because I really don't.
17:21Um, no, there are things you do, uh, that was really amazing that I think, oh, I, I, I would
17:28like to learn that, but I can't because I think it's God given.
17:32It's innate.
17:33It's innate.
17:34And, you know, when we would do the song and I would listen to you play it and then I
17:41listen to you sing it.
17:47You did things with, like, phrasing and the way, because I recorded a version of it too, and it's like,
17:53okay, well, this is how you record this song.
17:55This is how this song goes, and obviously you can make things your own and all of that, but you,
18:00you did something with the song and this phrasing that I was like, oh my God, that is so good.
18:08But my brain just would not work that way, and so it's like, I would like to, I would like
18:13to learn, have the courage to at least attempt something like that, but I wouldn't have the ability to do
18:18it.
18:19So, uh, that is honestly, uh, something that I think about every time I hear it.
18:26Actually, when I hear it in the movie, I hear it, I'm like, wow, that's really cool.
18:28That's the difference between somebody who's, like, kind of singing and playing music and then an actual musician.
18:35And, uh, you brought authenticity to it, so, um, to the entire proceeding to the movie.
18:42So that was kind of cool to be around.
18:43That's very nice of you.
18:46I'm having a heart attack, by the way.
18:47That's what, they're coming for me.
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