Rachel McAdams’ new movie with Will Ferrell “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” is about their band’s journey as the most embarrassing band in Iceland, but McAdams said she got a taste of what it’s like to actually be hated by all of Europe.
McAdams and Ferrell went to Tel Aviv to film at the real “Eurovision” competition, and the crowd there was so annoyed to see their fake band Fire Saga interrupting the actual performances.
“We were just shy of being booed off the stage,” McAdams told Seth Meyers on Thursday. “They were like, ‘We are here to see Iceland, Hungary and our country. We don’t care about your Netflix movie.”
McAdams said she felt horribly for the film’s first assistant director who had to hype up the Eurovision audience so they could get the appropriate crowd shots.
“He was like, ‘Give it up for Will and Rachel!’ And everyone’s waving their little flags like (eye roll), ‘When is the show starting,” she said of the experience. “I was just so glad they didn’t make me go up there. I was so grateful for him putting himself on the line like that.”
McAdams did get a little taste of being a rock star when they filmed a fake music video for Fire Saga that’s seen in the movie. They stood on the cliff of a volcano with lava running in the background and seagulls and drones flying around them. But when Meyers asked if anyone in Iceland was excited to see them, that didn’t go over well either.
“They were incredibly warm and welcoming, but when we were shooting, there was no one. People would walk by and just keep going. It was great. It felt like we really were living there.”
Meyers did say with some optimism that once audiences around the world see “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” that Ferrell and McAdams should go back and would be welcomed with open arms and be carried out on shoulders.
“Really,” McAdams said. “Okay, I feel better.”
“Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” is on Netflix now. Check out McAdams’ full interview on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” above.