VOD Spotlight: “Country Strong”

Jeff Pfeiffer

15 years ago

Gwyneth Paltrow may have won an Oscar for her acting in Shakespeare in Love, but her voice has star power, too, as her role of Kelly Canter in Country Strong demonstrates. Her vocal talent was one of the reasons she was the first choice to play a country superstar. Those who did not see the film were treated to her encore performance of the film’s Oscar-nominated song “Coming Home” at the 2011 Academy Awards.

For her costar, Garrett Hedlund (TRON: Legacy), becoming country star Beau Hutton was more difficult. “I’d never played guitar before and definitely never sang for crowds, so back in August I started working in L.A. four, five days a week with Neal Casal, who’s a tremendous musician, singer and songwriter. Initially my fingers were so uncoordinated. And then you’re in a studio space and you’ve got a guitar in your hands and it’s just, ‘Man, I never thought I’d be here!’” Hedlund says.

The role of rising star Chiles Stanton, a young singer/songwriter and former beauty queen, went to Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl). Meester has a strong singing voice and background in pop music, which reflects her character’s pop-country sound.

To keep the feel of three distinct talents throughout their performances, each star had a separate music producer. But the final star of the film did not need one. Tim McGraw, who plays Kelly’s husband and partner James Canter, does not appear on stage in the film. He was, however, juggling his Southern Voice tour with his acting schedule while Country Strong was being filmed.

“Country Strong” is now showing on Video On Demand. Check your cable system for availability.

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