ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
"We treated Dewey Cox as if he really existed," says John C. Reilly, who is Dewey Cox in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.  The story of a larger-than-life musician whose songs a nation knows by heart, Walk Hard took director/writer/producer Jake Kasdan and writer/producer Judd Apatow on a journey through the behind-the-music stories of their favorite artists. 
"Judd and I love movies about rock stars.  We're both huge music geeks," says Kasdan.  "So we made up a fake music legend and wrote a movie about his life story. We knew basically how these movies work, because we've both seen a lot of movies about rock stars.  This character would rise and fall many times, he is addicted to pretty much everything you could possibly be addicted to, is in and out of rehab, has many wives, many children. It would be the world's goofiest American epic."
"This movie also gave me the chance to do a lot of things visually that I had  never done before, in terms of aping the styles of all the great rock movies. Of  course, there are the big elegant biopics we're playing with...But also all of the great black and white '60s rock documentaries, like Don't Look Back and all the Beatles documentaries that would have been released during Dewey's political period. We also mimicked the heightened performance style of some of the Elvis movies. As one giant homage, these movies are really fun to emulate and play around with, especially when you give life to this truly ridiculous character like Dewey Cox.  There's even an animated psychedelic sequence!  I called up my friend Geoff McFetridge, who's a brilliant and really funny artist, and asked him to do the world's stupidest psychedelic cartoon.  We tried to hit all the bases…"
Apatow and Kasdan had previously worked together on Apatow's television series "Undeclared" and "Freaks and Geeks," as well as Kasdan's feature The TV Set, but this was their first true collaboration as co-writers and producers.  Because the two are good friends, working together came naturally.  "Every night, my kids would fall asleep at 10 or 11 o'clock, and I'd call Jake and we'd sit on the phone for a few hours making notes of all the things that make us laugh about those movies," says Apatow.  "'We should do a scene in an African-American nightclub where the dancing is too erotic.'  'He has to kill his brother - the brother always dies in these movies.'  We looked for funny variations on those scenes, and when we had a ton of those ideas, we sat down and laid it all out."
At the center of Walk Hard is the man himself: Dewey Cox.  The filmmakers knew early on that the part required an actor with both the range and the musical ability to pull off such a classic figure - and from the very beginning, the part was written for John C. Reilly.
Apatow had just finished working on the comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby with Reilly, where he had seen the respected dramatic actor show his comedic talents.  Remembering his film-stealing rendition of "Mister Cellophane" in his Oscar®-nominated turn in Chicago and his musical performance in A Prairie Home Companion, Apatow and Kasdan also knew that Reilly had the musical chops to bring Dewey Cox to life.
"When we decided John would be the person to play Dewey Cox, it focused the whole film for us," says Apatow.  "John has a voice like Roy Orbison and he's built like Johnny Cash.  He was a great combination of all these people.  We met with him early on - before we wrote the script - and told him a little bit about the outline.  Then, when we were done with the script, we gave it to John and we begged and begged and begged."
"I have a lot of music in my background," says Reilly.  "I play guitar and I've had several bands over the years, both blues and rock.  I grew up acting in musicals as a kid.  When this movie came to me, it was at a perfect moment in my life - I was just getting back into music as a part of my creative life."
Reilly adds that he was attracted by the chance to perform a comic role in an unusual way.  "The comedy came from referencing all the clichés that happen to a guy like this and trying to do original things with them.  The only way to do that was to play it completely straight - to play this absurd material as honestly as possible," he says. 
Concurring, Kasdan adds, "For example, we would be playing a human, emotional scene - John would actually be crying - and at the end of it, we'd take a hairpin turn.  One minute Dewey is promising to quit drugs forever, and the next he's taking PCP and flipping over cars."
Joining Reilly are some of comedy's hottest rising stars.  Jenna Fischer, the Emmy Award-nominated star of "The Office," plays Darlene, the love of Dewey's life and his longtime backup singer.  "Saturday Night Live's" Kristen Wiig plays Edith, Dewey's first wife, and fellow "SNL" alumni Tim Meadows and Chris Parnell play Sam, Dewey's drummer, and Theo, the bass player, respectively.  Matt Besser plays Dave, the guitarist.  Also joining the comedy ensemble are David Krumholtz, Craig Robinson, Harold Ramis, and Jane Lynch, as well as Raymond J. Barry and Margo Martindale as Pa and Ma Cox.  And, as happens so often on a Judd Apatow project, the star is surrounded by a legion of actors that appear in film after film.  Comedy stars Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Justin Long, and Jason Schwartzman play the Beatles, while Jonah Hill, who starred for Apatow this past summer in Superbad, plays the grown-up ghost of Dewey's brother, Nate.
For Kasdan, directing Walk Hard brought a unique challenge: to walk the line between the structured, tight design of a musical film production and the looser, ad-libbed style of a Judd Apatow comedy.  "Judd and I knew that we needed to give the actors the freedom to go off the script and be funny, to try new things and be authentic on-camera.  At the same time, the musical elements require rigid planning; whether you're playing to pre-recorded tracks or playing live, you can't really improvise within it," he says.  "One of the things that was fun was trying to combine those different styles into the same movie, sometimes even into the same scene."

CASTING THE FILM
At the center of Walk Hard is Dewey Cox: a musical legend, a man whose experiences are the rock 'n' roll lifestyle writ large.  The only man the filmmakers ever considered to play this towering figure was John C. Reilly.
"The big surprise for me is how caught up I got in the guy's story," says Reilly.  "It's a crazy funny script - absurd and over-the-top - but I found myself getting totally caught up in it.  When you're in it, it's more than just a joke."
"Just like we did on Talladega Nights, we improvised many of the scenes," says Reilly.  "I think some of my best stuff comes through the process of collaborating on what we all think is funny, the improv cycle that happens on a movie."
Jenna Fischer, the Emmy-nominated star of "The Office," takes on the role of Dewey's long-suffering second wife and backup singer, Darlene.  At first, though, the actress had her eye on a different role - Dewey's first wife, Edith, who would be played by Kristen Wiig.  "I really prepared to play Edith and memorized everything about her," Fischer says.  "But they didn't really say anything much after I auditioned for Edith, and then Jake asked me to take a look at Darlene.  Something happened when I read with John C. Reilly and it all came together."
Reilly and Fischer had just finished another film together called Quebec (set for release early next year) and though they had only a few scenes together, they got to know each other well.  Both relished the chance to re-team for Walk Hard.
"She's wonderful and hilarious," says Reilly.  "She has the ability to make something very funny, but also the skills as an actor to make the relationship between Dewey and Darlene very real.  She just came in to read and we said, 'That's the character.'"
Wiig, the "Saturday Night Live" star who had previously worked with Judd Apatow in his film Knocked Up, takes on the role of Edith.  "She was just great in Knocked Up," says Apatow.  "She turns on a dime better than anyone on screen.  She believes in Dewey one minute and in the next, she tells him dreams can't come true."
The actress, who comes from an improvisational comedy background as a member of Los Angeles-based troupe The Groundlings, loved the idea that Edith Cox would be along for Dewey's bumpy ride from the beginning.
"Edith and Dewey start out at a very early age together," says Wiig.  "She was the second person in America to have a baby at the age of thirteen, I think.  When Dewey's career takes off, she is cast into a world of big cities and bigger houses, while Dewey's life enters one of sin and selfishness.  It's a fast turn of events for her, and he eventually leaves her all alone for another woman.  I guess it didn't help that she never believed in him and always told him he was a failure."
In casting Dewey's band, the filmmakers decided to go for the best comedians and actors and give them all a crash course in rock 'n' roll.
"Saturday Night Live" alumnus Tim Meadows signed on first as Sam, Dewey's drummer and eventual guide into the horrors of alcohol, drugs, and hanky panky found in the rock 'n' roll lifestyle on the road.
"I became involved with the movie by accident," says Meadows.  "I ran into Judd Apatow in a parking lot and we just caught up, shot the breeze.  The next day, my agent gets a call telling me that Judd wanted me for this role in his new movie as the drummer in the Dewey Cox band."
Meadows was soon joined by fellow former "Saturday Night Live" player Chris Parnell as Theo, the somber bass player, and by Matt Besser (from Comedy Central's "Upright Citizens Brigade") as the lanky guitarist, Dave.  The band was set… all they had to do was learn their instruments.  Although they would be synching along with the soundtrack, they all wanted to at least look to the world like they knew what they were playing.
"It was so fun to see us grow as musicians," says Meadows.  "We went from imitation musicians to the real thing after a lot of rehearsals and lessons and practice.  I remember a time when we were playing 'Guilty as Charged' and the background track quit.  But we continued to play and we didn't sound bad!  We tried to at least look like decent musicians."
Jenna Fischer was also amused by the band's progress.  "Chris Parnell can actually play stand up bass well now.  He could probably play it live," she says.  "Poor Tim Meadows could play a lot of other instruments, but not the drums.  He was so dedicated."
Not to be overlooked was the film's extraordinary amount of guest-star cameos by some of the biggest stars from the world of music.  "Part of the fun of doing a movie like this is all the different people you can invite to be in the movie," says Apatow. 
Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam presents Dewey with a lifetime achievement award.  "Eddie Vedder did a great job spoofing those induction speeches that are always being given by Bruce Springsteen or Bono," says Apatow.  "Eddie nailed it the first time and was hilarious."
Lyle Lovett, Jewel, Jackson Browne, and rap star Ghostface Killah all lent their voices to Dewey's "Walk Hard."  "You never feel more Caucasian than when you're sitting with Ghostface Killah punching up a song," Apatow continues.  "I don't know if this was a good thing to do, but we asked him if we could have more prison references.  He added the word 'shiv' and we moved on."
In addition, Jack White of The White Stripes was recruited to play the King of Rock 'n' Roll: Elvis Presley.  "In addition to being the coolest rock star ever, he is actually very funny," says Apatow.
It was Reilly who had a hand in getting Jack White to join the cast, as the actor had known the musician for years socially.  "I never thought we could get him for Elvis," says Reilly.  "I was thinking he would never do it.  Would he want to come?  So I called him up and he said, 'Sure, when do I go?'  It was amazing."

WRITING THE MUSIC OF DEWEY COX
Key to the story of a legend and his music is, of course, the music itself.  Developing the songs also proved to be an eye-opening experience for the filmmakers.  "The funniest thing to me is that the music in the movie is really good," says Apatow.  "Sure, all the songs are slightly off, slightly wrong, but it's all great-sounding music.  I think that's part of what makes the movie fun - you can get into it, even though it's ridiculous."
Early on, Apatow and Kasdan considered the kinds of songs that would comprise the Dewey Cox canon.  The songs had to span seven decades of musical styles, be familiar and catchy enough that they could conceivably have existed, and funny enough to support the comedy in the movie. 
"We needed good songs that were funny within the context of the movie," notes Kasdan.  "Some would be jokey, some less so.  For the purposes of the movie, we didn't want the comedy to be dependent on listening to the lyrical content of the song line for line.  It had to be funny within a sequence."
Apatow and Kasdan came up with scraps of musical ideas and integrated them into the screenplay, content to flesh out the music later with a phalanx of talented songwriters and musicians.
"We wrote song ideas into the script," says Apatow.  "We knew we needed a 'Walk Hard' song.  We knew we needed a 'Guilty As Charged' song.  We knew we needed a love song to his wife, like 'A Life Without You.'  We had the ideas for the songs, but we were not sure about how we would get them written."
Even though both Kasdan and Apatow were big music fans, neither had progressed past Guitar 101 as far as their own musicianship.  Kasdan had written a few songs for his film Zero Effect, but neither he nor Apatow had the chops when it came to strumming the six-string.
"We both play really mediocre, adolescent, Jewish-boy-who-loved-Bob-Dylan, campfire-type guitar," says Kasdan.  "We both knew only the same six chords."
First on board was Michael Andrews, a longtime collaborator of both Kasdan's and Apatow's, having composed the scores for Kasdan's The TV Set and Orange County as well as for episodes of Apatow's series "Undeclared" and "Freaks and Geeks."  In fact, "Mike Andrews was the first person we enlisted," says Apatow.  "We knew he would be composing the score and supervising all of the songwriting with us as well as writing songs himself.  We cast a wide net and a lot of cool people sent in versions right away."
"Producing Dewey Cox was right in my zone," says Andrews.  "Working with great friends and collaborating with brilliant songwriters, hilarious comedy writers, and a talent like John C. Reilly - these were unforgettable times.  Dewey Cox's entire career, built from my favorite parts of musical history, was recorded in one year."
With Andrews supervising, several artists weighed in on Cox's sound, and two, songwriters Dan Bern and Mike Viola, tapped into the fountain of inspiration that is the entirely fake career of Dewey Cox.  "Mike Viola had done the music for That Thing You Do and was a performing artist himself, as was Dan Bern.  We put them together and they started writing," remembers Apatow.
By the time they were done, the two had written almost all the songs in the film.  Viola contributed "(I Hate You) Big Daddy," "A Life Without You (Is No Life At All)," and "Darling" (the last co-written with John C. Reilly), while Bern wrote "Farmer Glickstein," "Royal Jelly," and "(Have You Heard the News) Dewey Cox Died."  The two shared songwriting duties on "Hole in My Pants," "Dear Mr. President" and the movie's lilting swan song, "Beautiful Ride."  Bern also collaborated with Andrews on the songs "There's a Change a'Happenin'" and "Hey Mr. Old Guy."
Among the other respected songwriters who contributed material was the legendary Van Dyke Parks, who had collaborated with Brian Wilson on much of the Beach Boys' acclaimed "Smile" album, and now collaborates with Andrews on the Wilson-esque "Black Sheep."  Popular musician and songwriter Marshall Crenshaw was also on board, eventually writing the linchpin number, "Walk Hard."  "Marshall is an artist I have admired for many years," says Apatow.  "His version of 'Walk Hard' was the first song we liked."
Songwriter Charlie Wadhams contributed "Let's Duet" (co-written with Benji Hughes) and "Guilty As Charged" (with Gus Seyffert), and Antonio Ortiz penned Dewey's first performance song, "Take My Hand."
"Once we had these songs, we could sit down and try to figure out what we did not have," says Apatow.  "We would need something about how Dewey hated his dad.  Or something about summing up one's life and career.  Luckily, we also had John C. Reilly involved for the whole process."
Reilly, who wrote "(Mama) You Got to Love Your Negro Man" with Michael Andrews for the film, was on board for most of the songwriting process.  "John was deeply involved in the crafting of all of the songs," says Apatow.  "He had a lot of ideas for the songs and wrote some.  That made it a whole lot easier because they all became studio rats, spending months and months in the recording studio.  Not all of the songs can be in the movie… maybe we will put them in the 'Dewey Cox Box Set.'"
Through this process, Kasdan found that working on the songs for Walk Hard became a happy chance to reunite with old friends - but also a fulfilling creative moment.  "Dan Bern and Mike Viola are both good friends and I've been a fan of the music each has made for a long time - they both have a wit and intelligence to their songwriting that I suspected would be perfect for this movie.  Similarly, Charlie Wadhams is a really talented, funny guy who I was friendly with through Mike Andrews, another close friend and collaborator, who produced all the songs.  I went to high school with Manish Raval, one of the music supervisors, who, along with Tom Wolfe, was coordinating all of this work.  So, for me, one of the really cool aspects of making this movie was working with all of these incredibly talented friends of mine, on creating all this music.  By the end, it was like a little mini Brill Building.  We were all in the studio together for several months, recording about 40 songs.  It was a ton of work but unbelievably fun.  And one of the great byproducts was that it gave John a six-month head start on playing Dewey Cox.  In a way, he had been playing the role that whole time, before we even started shooting."
"We started very early on," said John C. Reilly.  "We had a good road map in terms of the script and the feel of the music we wanted.  We recorded over 30 songs over a six-month period, with so many great tunes coming out of this friendly, creative competition.  Michael Andrews was a great leader in the studio.  And whenever we recorded a new song, Jake was there to guide it.  When it came time to actually film the movie, we were off to the races."


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