While filming \u201cSong Sung Blue,\u201d Ella Anderson spent many nights falling asleep with Neil Diamond\u2019s \u201cSoolaimon\u201d playing in her head on repeat. \u201cI just remember laying in my bed, and all I heard was his voice,\u201d says Anderson, who stars in the musical film about a Neil Diamond tribute band led by Kate Hudson<\/a> and Hugh Jackman<\/a>.<\/p>\n Anderson is hopeful that viewers will also leave the theater with Diamond\u2019s songs \u2014 and the resilience of the film\u2019s characters \u2014 lingering in their memories.<\/p>\n More from WWD<\/strong><\/p>\n Based on a true story, \u201cSong Sung Blue\u201d follows the relationship of two middle-age single parents in Wisconsin, both struggling gig musicians who join forces to form Neil Diamond tribute band \u201cLightning & Thunder.\u201d Anderson stars in the film as Rachel, the teenage daughter of Hudson\u2019s character, who is the \u201cThunder\u201d to Jackman\u2019s \u201cLightning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCraig [Brewer; the director] brilliantly captured the perspective of Midwestern people who are musicians, that are oftentimes not playing for the massive crowds, but are playing for intimate crowds of real people who maybe had a long day at work, are grabbing a beer, and just wanna enjoy that connection that music can create in a room,\u201d says Anderson, whose own parents are musicians from the Midwest.<\/p>\n The film is based on a 2008 documentary of the same title, which explores the impact of unexpected and devastating health challenges.\u00a0Anderson felt \u201can immediate connection\u201d to the script\u2019s central story of perseverance and resilience.<\/p>\n \u201cI was sure that there were embellishments, only to find when I watched the documentary that it\u2019s all real. It all really happened,\u201d says Anderson. \u201cAnd that just lit a fire under me.\u201d<\/p>\n Anderson describes her costars as \u201cpresent and generous\u201d on-set, with everyone committed to paying tribute to the real-life people they were portraying.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting to work with Hugh and Kate, it was just a goldmine of things to be excited about and to dig into,\u201d says Anderson. \u201cThere was zero ego there. There was only commitment to these people that we\u2019re playing, and how can we render them accurately, and how can we do their story justice?\u201d she adds. \u201cAnd that inspired me every single day to commit the same amount, and to give as much of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSong Sung Blue\u201d is rooted in music, and similarly, Anderson describes music as \u201cingrained\u201d in her own creative identity.<\/p>\n \u201cAs an artist, film is the center pillar, and every other part of my artistic identity just plays into that and compliments it in a way,\u201d says Anderson, who released her first music EP in 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cI never find myself working on a film where I don\u2019t pull things from music or from visual arts,\u201d she adds. \u201cThe very first time that I shared music with anyone was I wandered into my brother\u2019s \u2014 who\u2019s a sound engineer \u2014 music studio in the bedroom next to mine, and I started recording a song that I wrote on his bedroom carpet floor. And so I think that\u2019s just an example of when things feel organic, that\u2019s when they happen.\u201d<\/p>\n The 20-year-old began her career as a child actress, starring in series for Disney and Nickelodeon. Earlier this year, she reprised her role in Nickelodeon\u2019s \u201cHenry Dagger\u201d for a film adaptation of the comedy series. Other movie roles include 2024 Sundance film \u201cSuncoast,\u201d and the teenage version of Brie Larson\u2019s main character in \u201cThe Glass Castle.\u201d<\/p>\n Next year, Anderson stars opposite Juliette Lewis in \u201cJesus Land,\u201d an adaptation of a bestselling memoir by Julia Scheeres. \u201cIt was just such an honor to play her,\u201d says Anderson of portraying the author onscreen. \u201cIt was a really \u2018boots in mud in the weeds\u2019 experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond that, Anderson is \u201creally focused on finding the next project that feels right,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd reading a lot of scripts. I\u2019m just excited about making sure that feels like something I want to allow to consume all of my mind,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt\u2019s totally possible I might make some music while I\u2019m in New York \u2014 or maybe I\u2019ll work on a project where there are musical elements involved.\u201d<\/p>\n The L.A.-based actress was getting ready to spend part of December in New York visiting her brothers, and spending time with family on the East Coast ahead of the Christmas Day release of \u201cSong Sung Blue.\u201d<\/p>\n The first time Anderson watched the film with a crowd was for the film\u2019s premiere on the closing night of the American Film Institute Festival in October.<\/p>\n \u201cTo hear the authentic audience reactions and how much that they loved the film<\/a> and how much that they felt it on a really visceral level, it makes me that much more excited for everyone on Christmas Day to see it in all the theaters across the nation,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Ella Anderson<\/p>\n Best of WWD<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for WWD’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While filming \u201cSong Sung Blue,\u201d Ella Anderson spent many nights falling asleep with Neil Diamond\u2019s \u201cSoolaimon\u201d playing in her head on repeat. \u201cI just remember laying in my bed, and all I heard was his voice,\u201d says Anderson, who stars in the musical film about a Neil Diamond tribute band led by Kate Hudson and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2204628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[366985,309934,355633,366977],"class_list":["post-2204627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-ella-anderson","tag-kate-hudson","tag-neil-diamond","tag-song-sung-blue"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Ella-Anderson-Finds-Her-Rhythm-in-\u2018Song-Sung-Blue.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2204627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2204629,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204627\/revisions\/2204629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2204628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2204627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2204627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2204627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/span><\/div>\n