Country music and movies have a long history of fitting together quite nicely. From Nashville to Coal Miner's Daughter, The Coen Brothers' 2000 crime comedy O Brother, Where Art Thou? to last year's Only The Brave, it's a genre of music that has a way conveying story and drama more than many others. In fact, CinemaBlend recently sat down with Jessica Rothe and Alex Roe to talk about Forever My Girl, in which country music plays a critical narrative role, and Rothe noted that she secretly loves country music due to its flair for the dramatic. The Happy Death Day star explained:
I was talking about this earlier. I, in middle school, started really really liking country music because it tells a story, it's really dramatic, I'm really dramatic, there's a lot of emotion. It was like 'this is a perfect fit,' and I was teased mercilessly for it. So I stopped listening to it. But I definitely have a secret love for country music, and I think when it's good, it's just so good.
That more or less cuts to the point of our question. Country has its fair share of die-hard fans out there in the music world, but it also has a fair share of detractors because of its status as a genre that places a sharp emphasis on storytelling and melodrama. Those qualities can sometimes make it easy for ridicule (something that Jessica Rothe experienced in her own life), but she has maintained a covert love for it since middle school.
Following Jessica Rothe's answer, Alex Roe took the baton and offered up a slightly different viewpoint -- one which reflected his reduced exposure to country music growing up in England, as well as how he learned to love country music as he became more invested in his role as Liam Page. Roe explained:
For me, I'm from England so we don't get as much country... No, but yeah I listen to a little Johnny Cash and some older artists, and my dad weirdly would have some, I think he used to sing 'Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town' at karaoke and stuff, so there's little bits that you hear. But I kind of just became obsessed with it when I got this role and I listened to it every single day and I've really grown, I've got so much respect now for it, for country artists, for the country fans, and what they seem to respect and what they admire in their country artists. It's like this home-grown thing. They're connected to their roots. They stay true to their hometown, and I think Liam, my character, learns that is what's important to him, so I think ultimately it will make his music better because it makes him connect to his audience.
Check out a clip from our interview with Jessica Rothe and Alex Roe below to hear what each of them specifically had to say about their relationships with country music.
Forever My Girl is now in theaters. If you want more information about the film, make sure to take a look at our in-depth review, and while you're at it, hop over to our 2018 movie premiere guide to see what else is debuting on the silver screen this year!
