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Jul 02, 2014 By Austin Trunick Web Exclusive

After his 2006 film Once—starring Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, later of The Swell Season—turned into an international sensation, Irish filmmaker John Carney avoided musicals for the next eight years, afraid of being pigeonholed as “that music guy.” But the idea for his latest movie, Begin Again—about a stage-shy songwriter who strikes out on a solo career with the help of a down-on-his-luck label executive—dates back many years: the premise was inspired by Carney’s experience with a band he played in after high school.

“I met a bunch of A&R men who were in Ireland looking for the next U2, which we weren’t, unfortunately,” says director John Carney of his old band. “[The label reps] were very showy. These A&R men were basically kids; 25-year-old guys with coke habits and unlimited credit card facilities. They were swirling around and taking these kids out to clubs, wining and dining and trying to sign them. I was thinking back over my life and though, I wonder where those guys are now? I wonder how they adapted to the massive changes in the industry?”

Carney landed his dream casting when Mark Ruffalo signed on to play the part of his downtrodden label exec. While the actor based some of the character’s style and mannerisms on those of an old friend, he looked to a specific musician for the rest.

“Of all the music people, it’d be Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips,” says Ruffalo of his inspiration. “I really love him. I think he’s really different, and feels like the real deal as far as music goes. I hope he doesn’t take offense to my homage of him, but I’m a big fan.”

Keira Knightley was cast opposite Ruffalo for this modern spin on A Star Is Born. Before she could play Begin Again’s bashful ingénue, she first had to learn to sing.

“They very kindly got me some lessons,” says Knightley. “We sat down and we did lots of scales. A lot of the lyrics weren’t written until a few days before we got into the studio, so we didn’t have the actually songs to figure out until we got there. So it was mostly about trying to figure out what my voice was, because I [didn’t] know.”

“None of us knew,” says Carney. “It was kind of funny, actually, because when Keira went into the recording [studio], none of us knew how this was going to work. She went in and sang the first few lines, and we all had this big sigh of relief. Like, this is a lovely, warm voice, and we can totally make this work.”

They might not have been able to make it work for everyone’s musical performance in the film, however.

“I was supposed to sing a Leonard Cohen song [during a scene] in the bathroom,” adds Mark Ruffalo. “But we couldn’t get the rights, so that was cut.”

“That’s what I said to Mark,” jokes Carney, and they laugh. “That we couldn’t get the rights.”

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Begin Again is in theaters now. To read our review, click here.