Can music still be original? Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd's new film

“His a limited number of notes on the keyboard and a limited number of melodies and lyrics to choose from,” said singer and actor Nick Jonas at a film release conference. “When there are thousands of songs to be composed every day by people from all over the world, something happens.”.

This is the premise of John Carney's new film, "Stolen Letters", in which Nick Jonas plays the role of a former band member Danny Wilson and appropriates a song written by another musician, Rick Power (Paul Rudd). 

The story is, however, more complicated than a simple charge of stolen letters or plagiarism. It is a questioning of the process of creativity, the pressure of success and what happens when a musician sacrifices his career for his family. 

“ I have seen scenarios where an idea was released, someone else ended it months later and forgot where it came from,” explained Nick Jonas. “And other scenarios where, unintentionally, we come to a very similar melody.”. 

Danny Wilson is not positioned as a villain. Carney explores the nuances of stardom and how bad decisions can become a snowball. 

“ It's hard to move through these days without touching something that belongs to someone else. Everything is being recycled”, said the director. “Today, it is difficult to know what originality means, true authenticity”. 

Carney, who wrote some of the songs in the film, said that the argument of “Stolen Letters”, if taken too far, can paralyze creativity because everyone is afraid of being accused of plagiarism. “But we want originality and listen to new music,” he said, considering that the eighties was the last one in which we made really new music. 

For Paul Rudd, embodying Rick Power was an opportunity to stretch out his vocal abilities. His character is the lead singer of the “Bride & Groove” wedding band in Ireland, and has a feeling of some bitterness about the potential for success he has never achieved. 

“Music, more than anything else, has to make us feel healthy, to make us feel understood,” said the actor, who prepared for the role channeling the energy he felt every time he made karaoke. 

Rudd understands the sense of injustice of his character, who feels that credit for his music would change his life. However, he also argued that the issue is more complex than it initially seems. 

“ Years later, no one will care who wrote what ", said. “It’s something that exists. It is difficult to separate the ego from authorship, but probably in many of the things we worship someone saw his credit denied.”. 

The actor told him that he immediately fit in with Nick Jonas and he never gave him any advice on how to play a musician. 

“ If we put the ego aside, the act of creating something is an incredible thing, even if only you know it”, he considered.

"Stolen Letters" is a Lionsgate film that features Havana Rose Liu, Beth Fallon, Jack Reynor and Sophie Vavasseur.