The movie Rachel McAdams compared to a “childhood dream coming true”
The Eurovision Song Contest is an international singing competition that draws many entrants from various countries to perform showmanlike musical performances in front of an active crowd, but regardless of the viewership numbers, it is considered relatively obscure when compared to the many examples of reality-style programming available on television.
However, it received an unexpected boost in international interest thanks to the 2020 film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, a comedy starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, in which they star as Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdóttir, respectively, trying to fulfil their self-granted destinies.
The two Icelandic bandmates from the small community of Húsavík, despite being underfunded when compared to the flashier singers in competition, such as Russia’s Alexander Lemtov, played by Dan Stevens, work hard to achieve their childhood dream, forging a delightful and heartening journey to follow.
Ferrell had previously appeared in a big-screen musical when he joined Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick for the adaptation of Broadway’s The Producers, but the experience was a new one for McAdams, who remarked that it was freeing in a way that was unlike any previous role that she’d had.
“I was so excited to get started with this character, and just getting to learn guitar and piano and getting the accent right was not only fun, but a bit of a challenge,” the actor said, “I have always dreamed of doing musicals, but life doesn’t always go the way you expect, so this was like my little girl childhood dream coming true.”
McAdams has been notoriously picky when choosing her roles, but she said that the immersive production of Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga was unlike anything she had done before, specifying, “Getting to be on that stage and wearing the costumes was a dream. I used to be a figure skater, so it kind of brought back those memories of that kind of over-the-top performance was really just so much fun.”
Given that the film was a Netflix release, it was not initially expected to have a significant cultural impact; However, it debuted on the platform in 2020, when other studios were also forced to premiere their new titles on streaming services because of the theatrical shutdowns related to the Covid-19 pandemic, and as a result, viewers were more primed to see a new comedy, especially one that featured such intensive singing from both Ferrell and McAdams.
Perhaps being released at a time in which people were feeling hopeless ended up helping the feature because it offered a dash of positivity and old-fashioned ‘movie magic’ that has been lost in a more cynical age.
Although Ferrell brought a goofy sense of humour, as he is known to do, McAdams’ performance managed to be genuinely sweet, making the silly musical comedy far more moving than it had any right to be. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga may have been a dream come true for McAdams, but it offered an even larger audience the opportunity to experience joyful escapism once more.
