In Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga (available on Netflix), Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams star as an Icelandic musical duo who aspire to represent their country in the movie's titular event, a hugely popular international singing competition that is considered appointment viewing in basically every country outside of the United States.
But it's Dan Stevens who steals the show as their fellow Eurovision competitor, the flamboyant and ultra-wealthy Russian vocalist Alexander Lemtov.
Stevens, best known for his role in Downton Abbey, first proved his vocal prowess onscreen in 2017's Beauty And The Beast remake. But his power ballads from the Disney musical are child's play compared to Lion Of Love, his Eurovision character's signature pop-operatic anthem.
The instant classic is one of several songs written for the movie, including Ja Ja Ding Dong, a favourite around local pubs in Iceland, that were designed to become instant earworms – emblematic of the kitschy beats that compete at the actual event.
"The joke is that as terrible as a song like Ja Ja Ding Dong might seem, there are songs like that, very often from Eurovision, that are just part of people's childhoods," Stevens says. "It doesn't matter how terrible they are, they#39;re part of the culture."
How do you explain the event Eurovision Song Contest to people who aren’t familiar with it?
It’s much more than just a song contest, really. It’s such an extraordinary pattern of both musical talents and glitz and glamour.
There’s often a country that will come with a protest element or some kind of statement with an underlying political context.
And then there’s always a ridiculous element as well – some country will submit something that’s really off the charts. There’s nothing like it. There’s very little to compare it to.
As an event, maybe the Super Bowl in terms of something that people sit down and watch whether they are into it or not. It’s just a sort of cultural happening. It’s a tricky thing to put into words.
How does the film find its balance between satire and paying homage to the event?
It's very difficult to parody something that is already quite so bizarre. The movie is made with a huge amount of affection for the contest because it is something that, if you grew up in Europe, it's just been part of your childhood. It's just part of the cultural calendar. I certainly grew up watching it.
So I think it's more about finding characters within that microcosm, as Will does in figure skating (in Blades Of Glory) or Nascar (in Talladega Nights: The Legend Of Ricky Bobby). He's not out to take down figure skating or Nascar. He's looking at finding character parody more than taking down the whole institution.
How did you first hear about the movie?
I didn't have to audition, thankfully. (Director) David Dobkin was aware of my work, and I was a huge Will Ferrell fan growing up. He's been a massive part of my comedic upbringing, so I was absolutely delighted.
The challenge of bringing this extraordinary Russian character to life was just too good to pass up. Once they played me the song (Lion Of Love), I was all in.
Your character has a very distinct pop-operatic baritone voice. How did you find his sound?
It's a more European thing. Definitely running through Eurovision, there is a thick theme of Europop. And a big feature of that is the opera-pop crossover. A lot of countries feel that might have the broadest appeal because it will appeal to a lot of opera lovers and pop lovers.
Very often, it will produce a character like Lemtov. His spoken voice is very much based on some European characters I've met over the years. His singing voice, I would love to take claim for it but in the end, we went with this Swedish baritone whose voices similar to mine.
Another element of Eurovision is that he or she who can hit the highest note the longest will impress the most, so he's definitely going for that.
What's it like being on set with Will Ferrell?
It's a lovely place to be. He keeps things very ego-free, very playful, very silly. It's wonderful watching him do his thing.
His improv style is incredible to watch and to learn from, but he's also very generous. He's out for everybody to be as funny as they can be.
He leaves plenty of room for people like myself and Rachel and Melissa (Mahut) to really play and bring our thing as well. – Reuters
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