The Beginning Of A Great New Acting Career (Hour 1)

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This is Night Light with Pete Schwabba, your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

And now, a guy who thinks chickens dream of one day being pot pies, Peach Waba.

Hey, welcome to Night Light, ladies and gentlemen.

Happy Thursday, everybody.

It is the Christmas Eve of weeknights.

Joining me again tonight for this episode of Night Light is the wonderfully talented, very sharp, incredibly smart, dynamically handsome Aaron Zombers.

Hey, buddy.

You know, I'm not the one who decides whether or not you get a raise.

Oh, that concerns Zomers.

Yeah, you don't have to say all that.

Some people just call you Zomers.

I never know how I feel about that.

Like, you don't seem to mind, but I still... I don't know if I... We were never in the same frat together, so I don't know if I should call you just by your last name.

That's true.

And we haven't known each other that long.

So, honestly, I will call you whatever you prefer, buddy.

As long as you don't call me late for dinner.

What?

No one's ever made that joke before.

No, actually, I don't think anyone's ever made that joke before to me.

So we made radio history here tonight.

Great to have you partnering up against tonight.

Thank you, buddy.

We have a fun show tonight.

And you know, that intro you used said something about McNuggets.

I can't remember what I did with that story, but remember there was a story about McDonald's having McNuggets and offering caviar sauce.

What on earth?

Like, would you ever try that?

Yeah, here's what it is.

So McDonald's is debuting McNugget Caviar for Valentine's Day.

Coming

up

soon, you can enter a...

a contest on McNuggetCaviar.com to win a McDonald's tin just with, you know, normal caviar.

It says normal caviar.

I don't know what, if the average person knows what that means, I certainly don't.

But anyway, normal caviar and a McDonald's tin and a $25 McDonald's gift card so that you can go and get some McNuggets to dip in the caviar.

I mean, what is the grossest part of that?

The caviar?

I've had caviar maybe once or twice.

whatever but McDonald's nuggets like who's who's the loser in that pairing like Well, if you're a caviar company, how desperate for business are you that you have to pair up with McNuggets?

I wonder if you like use a pseudonym Like people want to do for the Melania movie

And the credits two-thirds of the people that worked on that film the crew did not want their names in the credits

And it's interesting because we could talk about this because it's a movie and they're Talking about it like it's this big success because no privately financed documentary Has made that much money, but frankly in the first week they made seven million dollars.

I think there's 75 million underwater They made back seven million.

It's they're not gonna recoup.

No,

but most documentaries are done with grants funds sometimes privately financed for sure

But they don't spend 40 million bucks.

So there's a little bit of a skewed playing field there.

I have not seen the film.

I am curious, but I'm not going to pay for it.

But anyway, it was interesting.

You went to the Melania doc, Aaron, right out of the gate there.

Have

you seen

it?

I have not seen it.

I also don't want to pay money.

I really liked Vanity Fair's review of it, in which they said, whether you're watching this in the theater,

or it's offered on an airplane, it will make people walk out of the theater.

I saw that, that

was so funny.

And then the memes were going around, people walking off planes, like just... There was a great reel I saw a couple of years ago where there was this independent artist, this girl, she had a guitar and she's on a subway in New York and she says, hi everybody, I'm so-and-so and I can't remember her name but she says, I don't want your money, I'm just putting out a video and she starts playing the guitar while she's getting bounced around on the subway.

And this dude prized the doors open and jumps off a subway going full steam.

And I don't know how they did it, but it was absolutely hilarious.

You could get, you could go down that rabbit hole, right?

Of the reel.

Sometimes I lay in bed at night and I'm like, I never should have brought my phone into bed because this is trouble.

The other one I saw is everybody and their brother has a podcast.

Nightlight included.

We're radio first and podcast, but.

A friend of mine posted something a couple of years ago.

A guy was about to step off a cliff.

And he said, no, no, really, tell me more about your podcast.

Yes, he's about to jump off a cliff.

Gorgeous stuff.

Hey, welcome, folks.

We have a great show planned for you tonight.

Wherever you're joining us from, it is great to have you.

We're going to talk some movies tonight.

This is exciting, Aaron.

I don't know if you saw the guest list, but I know you're a great producer and you do your homework.

So I'm going to assume you did, but we've got

Hudson Henley on the show tonight from the movie Song Song Blue.

Now, have you seen that film?

I have not.

No, I've been bad about watching new movies.

I've mostly been catching up on old movies.

OK.

I say old, but like, I don't know, Blade is from 1998.

So it's it's as old as I am.

OK.

Well, that's a good one.

Blade is good.

I mean, you were supposed to watch Dumb and Dumber last night.

I don't know if you remember that.

Yeah, I went to bed.

What?

So no, as I'm in bed.

OK.

Tonight, is it a possibility?

It is.

You know, I don't have to get up super early tomorrow a little bit because I have a drive, but not too bad.

You know, I got to find what it's on, make sure I have access to it.

It's got to be.

I would

assume that that's probably you could probably stream that for free.

I don't know 100 percent, but I would imagine if you do some digging, you're a resourceful guy.

Anyway Hudson Henley will be here from the movie song sung blue and I will say this and I'm not just saying this my favorite scene in the whole movie Involves Hudson and it's near the end of the movie.

We'll talk to him about that.

He did a great job acting Opposite Hugh Grant and Kate Hudson just a great cast and a really fun film especially if you're from Wisconsin or the Milwaukee area because it's based on lightning and thunder

Mike and Claire Sardina their Neil Diamond tribute band has been turned into well it was a documentary first as we learned from Molly Snyder last week and now it's a feature film so there you go.

So we will talk to Hudson at 535 coming up right after news sports and weather at 530.

And then are you ready for this have you ever produced Aaron when we've done the popcorn pick of the

week?

I don't think I have.

Oh,

well, I was watching once when you did the popcorn pick of the week when it was Todd Allbaugh who had a very

fun outfit

wearing like a 2-2 and a cowboy hat.

He talked about that is still the bar is still set way too high Todd outdid himself and that was and he you know what he did it again And then he was like somewhere in Madison where I think buddy Holly jumped out of a car or something like

that Yeah, it was where Elvis got or talked down allegedly caught talked on a fist fight.

There were some people getting someone up

He hops out and he's like, you guys stop that.

And they're like, oh, it's Elvis.

OK, we'll stop.

I'm a good singer.

You should fight.

OK.

So we're doing that tonight as well.

But before that, sandwiched in between Hudson Henley and the popcorn pick of the week will be Jeff Blankenship, a director with a cool new film.

He just won some award for it.

We're going to talk to him about that.

He's also very involved in the Door County Film Festival, which is just about a week away.

and we'll talk to Jeff at 610 and then the popcorn pick of the week happens at 635 and we've got a jam-packed schedule here.

Shannon Simon from Cedar Crest Ice Cream will be here.

They had this great contest they did with 4-H and where they were looking for a new flavor and we'll have the winners of the Cedar Crest.

I have to find what the title is again here.

The winner of the Cedar Crest

We need a big flavor, flavor creation contest.

Also known as the Cedar Crest Ice Cream 4-H flavor creation contest.

We'll be here, and the winners will be here.

Ann Jaroski, she is the adult leader of 4-H and Hope Irath.

We'll be here, I hope I'm saying her name right.

She is the youth president of 4-H.

All three of these people will be here talking about the winning flavor.

We will tell you what the winning flavor is when we do the popcorn pick of the week, because we're gonna ask these.

Girls women about movies and they're gonna make the popcorn pick of the week after we talk about this cool New flavor one that there is chocolate involved.

So I loved it.

Yeah, I'm and then that Absolutely, have you uh, were you a part of 4-H when you were?

Yeah, it

was I didn't I wasn't as much in the you know farm related side of things The 4-H club I was in mostly did more scientific stuff.

We

Did rockets for schools a program?

I'm not sure if it's still around where we bid we did you know model rockets you get like the class ABC engines these little I don't know lip balm and bigger sized engines We went up

to

ones that were Like H and bigger just huge and have like six and a half foot tall Rockets and then do science experiments in them and compete to see who's was the most interesting and successful It was really cool.

That's 4h.

Yeah, we are 4h club

Did that.

I thought it was all like farm

stuff.

Okay.

Interesting.

All right, well, we'll do some 4-H talk tonight and Cedar Crest Ice Cream.

And then in Act 3, folks, I'm very excited for this guest.

We've finally figured out a way to get her on the show, Devika Giddish.

She is a film critic based in New York City and the editor of Film Comment Magazine and a film critic.

And her reviews are all over Rotten Tomatoes.

She does great work and she's really fun to talk movies with.

So we'll do that in...

Act three so there you go.

There's your show coming up in the second segment tonight.

We will spotlight our Wisconsin Olympic athlete and Another good one boy.

We've got I don't know if this is normal that the person we're gonna feature tonight.

It's like our third athlete We featured that was that's in the military and I didn't realize that was such a thing but well

We'll tell you who that is in the second segment.

We've got lots to get to and lots to talk.

But first folks, I think it's time we get to our nightlight question of the night.

Let's talk

about the question.

Okay, question.

Question.

Question.

Pregunta.

Question.

Question.

Okay, I have a question.

Questions.

This question.

Domanda.

Question.

Question.

Questions.

All right, it is the dead of winter.

And yesterday was National Soup Day.

So tonight's question of the night is, what is your favorite winter soup?

How do you like that one, Zomers?

You know, soup is a good food.

I'm on board.

Soup is great food, especially during the winter.

So I mean, nothing, there is nothing like a bowl of soup in the winter.

So it is the dead of winter and yesterday was national soup day.

What is your favorite winter soup?

We've got some great responses on social media.

But let us know what you think 855-752-4842-855-75 Civic.

You can also text us on the app.

If you have not downloaded it, you're missing out, folks.

Go to the Civic Media website and download the app today.

If you're watching the radio on the stream at Facebook, YouTube, or X, you can drop us a stream comment.

Let us know what your favorite winter soup is.

I have a few.

I'm going to try to narrow mine down before I say, because I like soup in the winter more than in the summer.

You can't really ask this.

This is not a summer question because everybody

just

like you

know, I'll eat soup in summer But I understand that not everybody is that dedicated, you know, correct

Not everyone is as dedicated to soup as Aaron's armors.

So we'll read some texts We've got I wanted to get to this yesterday, but we did the guy that stole the plane Who the guy stole two planes and as it turns out he was high on meth and he didn't have a pilot's license

And I know this is reliable, Zomers, because it comes from a website called MotorBiscuit.com.

Oh, well, of course, the most, you know, well-known and authoritative

source.

On people who use math and steal planes.

They have cornered the market on those stories.

I will say this.

It's said, like, he doesn't have a pilot's license.

Now, maybe he had some flight experience.

But maybe it's one of those things where you get in the zone, like when you play pool.

And you've had a couple drinks and you're great.

It could be the same thing with flying planes when you're on meth.

It's like you just, it's like, whoa, it all comes to you and you feel it, right?

Or maybe just

played a lot of Microsoft Flight Simulator.

I don't know.

Is that a thing?

It is.

It's actually, I mean, I haven't played it myself, but as I understand, it's pretty accurate.

Try that without the meth,

folks.

That's my, that's my advice to you.

We are coming back to give you our Olympic athlete of the week.

It's Pete Schwabba in Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.

You're listening to Civic Media.

Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.

Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get started.

It is Thursday night, folks.

We are just, the opening ceremonies are tomorrow in the Olympics.

I have that, right?

Right, Aaron?

Tomorrow.

I think so.

What is today?

Yeah, February 6th.

So this is exciting.

Every night leading up to the Olympics, we've been talking about a homegrown with constant competitor who will compete in Italy this year.

and we've gotten to know some of these great athletes.

And I feel like when we get to know someone's background a little bit or put a spotlight on them, it helps us, it just makes it more fun, because it gives us someone to root for.

And that's the same almost in any sporting event.

When you know someone's story, you know, if I knew, I'm not really a hockey fan, but if I knew some guy had battled back from a horrible car accident, learned how to walk again, whatever it is, wife divorced him after,

He had a cocaine problem.

I would be interested.

I would have a vested interest in that guy.

Though I would question his choice to go

into

hockey after having already had a bunch of limbs broken in a terrible car accident.

I don't know.

You're just asking to have him broken again.

You know what?

That was sort of a hypothetical.

OK, I'm reading too far into it.

Well, he already knows pain.

So a hockey fight to this guy is nothing.

Bring it on.

That's what I would say.

It's a good point.

If I were said hockey player.

But I love your attention to detail.

So all week we've been meeting, and last week we've been meeting these athletes.

Tonight's athlete is a straight shooter.

There is no horrible divorce or drug problem or car accident or anything.

His name is Ben Loomis and he is 19 years old, Aaron, originally from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

And he is what they call, he's in what is called the Nordic combined category.

You know what that is?

No, I do not.

Okay So when he was like four years old he started cross-country skiing and then I think when he was like six years old he learned how to ski jump So it's those two sports combined in the winter games.

It's called the Nordic combined And there's just a couple tidbits about Ben I couldn't really find much about his family, but he loves to listen to music when he trains He has been in the army.

I believe since well recently he's only 19

All right, let's double check 27 I

look

that didn't seem right.

He joined the army when he was 19 my bad.

Okay, there we go.

So this guy Has been in the army since he was 19.

So he's pretty tough, right?

And he's out there cross-country skiing and ski jumping in 2016 he I think he got the silver medal in the Olympic games or the youth Olympic games in Norway so ski jump and cross-country Ben Loomis 27 years old

been at it for a while, native of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and he is competing in the Nordic combined event.

Which of those two is more excited for you?

It was more exciting for you, Aaron.

The Nordic combined or?

Well, just the two events in the Nordic combined, cross country skiing and ski jumping.

I think the ski jumping is really cool.

Yeah, definitely the jumping.

Yeah, because there's a chance at a serious injury.

Which always makes.

Sports more fun.

It does.

I can't lie if you're watching So good luck Ben Loomis Sorry, I confused your age.

You're 27 a very mature 27 and in the army since he was 19 a soldier athlete They call that and he will be competing in the Nordic combined in Italy very excited to watch Ben and we only have one more night to do this so you know what?

Maybe we'll even tease the athlete for tomorrow because we've met some really cool people here

that are competing from our state in the Olympics.

How do you feel about February,

Aaron?

You know, it's it's a month.

I really don't have a lot of strong feelings about February because, you know, it doesn't have a whole lot of significant events other than Valentine's Day, which is not really something I care a whole lot about personally.

Yeah.

So February

is kind of just

there.

It's kind of just cold.

Last week.

I told Conrad I hated February.

I thought it was useless.

Um, it actually might have been on Monday because I was not looking forward to February.

I just think it's like the Tuesday of months.

There is literally nothing going on.

You've got just a few things.

Like you said, there's Valentine's Day.

There's Black History Month.

Uh, typically there's, well, there's always the Super Bowl, but I'm kind of wrong.

Like I was looking this up today and the Daytona 500 is in February.

The NBA All-Star game, although

Seriously who really cares does anybody watch the NBA all-star game when the final score is like 190 to 180?

I don't think so

Especially here's like people don't want to play in it.

Why would other why would people watch it?

Correct, but I did

find so I stand corrected I did find some cool things about February on TV.

I'm a big fan of color television The Muppet show Was on last night.

That's kind of cool the new Burbs show based on the 1989 Tom Hanks movie

Great movie.

Offbeat movie.

You ever see that one?

I did not, no.

I'm going to make a list for you, buddy.

OK, I appreciate that.

I'll add it to my already extensive list.

All right, fantastic.

It's season 24

of

Family Guy.

It starts the 15th of February.

You've got the newest Dick Wolf show, CIA, which drops on CBS the 23rd.

The voice, if you're into that kind of thing, returns on the 23rd.

Survivor.

What season do you think they're on in Survivor, Aaron?

I'm gonna guess 90.

You're almost half right, 50.

And the new Scrubs reboot premieres on ABC, which is great.

Anything to get those two guys off those T-Mobile commercials, I'm all in favor of.

You've got some big movies hitting the big screen, Crime 101.

I remember doing a report on that on the Hollywood beats.

That looks like a great caper film with Chris Helmsworth, Halle Berry.

and Barry Keogan and Wisconsin native Mark Ruffalo.

Very excited to see Crime 101.

And then you've got a new animated movie.

Goat was Stephen with Steph Curry, Nick Kroll, Jelly Roll.

Scream 7 is in the theaters.

And National Pizza Day was or is on the ninth.

So I have to apologize to February.

It's not so bad.

Got

a little more going for it

than maybe you thought.

The weather just sucks.

It's still the Tuesday of months.

Hey, when we come back after the news, sports and weather, Hudson Henley will be here from Song Song Blue.

Ladies and gentlemen, you won't want to miss that.

It's Pete Schwabba in Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen.

Great to have you here.

I'm Pete Schwab.

This is Nightlight.

Is that your favorite Neil Diamond song you're in?

I don't

know.

It's just one that I know was in the movie.

They're all fantastic.

He is talking about, of course, the movie Song Song Blue.

And I'm very excited.

My next guest is one of the stars of that hit movie.

And he plays Dana, the son of Kate Hudson and stepson of Hugh Jackman's characters.

It is my pleasure to welcome actor Hudson Henley.

Hey Hudson, how are you?

Hey, I'm doing great.

How are you doing?

Doing very well.

You look very presentable.

That is an outstanding smart-looking sweater.

I love it, buddy.

Thanks for, uh, thanks for making the effort.

Thanks for having me.

Oh, my pleasure.

Love the movie.

It was so much fun to watch.

We'll get to that in just a moment.

How are you doing tonight?

Are you in a good mood?

Where are you joining us from?

I'm joining you from Nashville, Tennessee.

Oh, outstanding.

Beautiful city.

Thank you.

Is that a good place for an actor to live and be based on?

Yeah,

it's

wonderful, especially for music.

It's a great city for music.

Are you a musician too?

Yes, I've been playing piano for nine years.

You know what?

I took piano lessons for a couple of years when I was a kid and I'm so glad I quit.

That's not true.

No one has ever said that, Hudson.

I regret quitting because it's such a great instrument.

I bet you're pretty good at it.

That's fantastic.

So our question every night Hudson we do a question of the day and tonight's question is at least up here in Wisconsin It's cold.

It's winter and yesterday was national soup day So my question is what is your favorite winter soup if you have one

my favorite winter soup I would have to say chicken noodle soup

I love chicken noodle soup.

You cannot go wrong with chicken noodle soup.

You cannot

go wrong.

Excellent choice, my friend.

Like a classic Campbell's chicken noodle soup.

Yeah.

Oh, that's outstanding.

I love it.

All right.

So, you know, you're part of this great movie.

You seem like you're kind of starting out in your career.

I know you've done some other stuff, too.

You're obviously a musician.

That's exciting.

But what was your experience like on Song Song Blue?

It was just so amazing.

I got to work with the biggest names in the industry, you know Hugh Jackman Kate Hudson Jim Belushi Ella Anderson who I grew up Watching in Henry danger.

That was my kind of high childhood TV show.

Yeah, it was just such a great experience I got to be around so many really nice people and

I just

loved every second of it

I can't even imagine.

I have a weird story.

When I was in college in Chicago, I worked at a kids club.

I was just starting out my own career.

And I was the coach of Jim Bellucci's kid, Robert.

He was part of the kids club.

and I actually remember talking to Jim Belushi a little bit and I got such a kick out of the guy was he such a

funny guy he's such a funny guy he just walks into the room and then in in one minute I'm not even exaggerating the whole room's just laughing their butts off it's crazy

how did like is he like that is he pulling pranks is he just making wisecracks what's his style he's making

jokes he's making crap he's doing everything honestly he's doing everything and

He's just so fun to be around.

You know, he's so fun.

He's so charismatic and he's really got some, I'll see, I'm also like great stories.

I bet.

And yeah, he's a great

guy.

You also worked with, well, there was Fisher Stevens, who's another great Chicago stage actor and done some good things.

Michael Imperioli from the Sopranos.

Sopranos.

Was it like, you must have been like wide eyed on the set, getting to work with all, not to mention Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman.

I mean, did everybody get along?

Yeah, everybody got along great.

The chemistry of the cast was unbelievable.

and it's just I was so starstruck the first time I saw Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman they came up to me and they were like hi and I just stared at them for a solid like 30 seconds I didn't say anything just air was coming out like no words

that

is

so fun

I was so starstruck but then once I got to know them they were so unbelievably kind to me it really just took me under their wing gave me some advice and just acted like my set parents which was great

that's so great did they did

Did they teach you things?

Like, they've both been around for so long and they've had great careers, they're so talented.

Who did you like to watch the most and what did you learn from any of these actors?

Well, I like to watch all of them.

It was really a gift to see them in their element, you know what I mean?

Putting together this...

this, you know, art part project, you can think of it as just all of them contributing and to see now the final product on on big screens everywhere.

It's just so awesome.

Yeah, everybody was so nice to me.

I mean, Hugh Jackman, you know, taught me that like everybody, you know, like, trust yourself, trust your gut instinct.

Don't let

anybody like

take advantage of you, which I thought was great advice.

And Kate Hudson just told me to stick to what you love doing.

Just always, if you don't like acting, if you end up don't like acting, don't do acting.

Do what you absolutely love.

Because

that's what's going to get you places, which I thought was really cool.

That's a great answer.

And it's so great that they can teach you things about the craft of acting, but also about the business side of it, too.

Trust your instincts, like you just said, and stuff like that.

That kind of advice isn't valuable, I would imagine, to a young actor like yourself.

For sure.

For sure.

So this was your first big movie credit.

Tell us a little bit about what you were thinking, what you felt like, Hudson, when you got the news that you were in the movie, that you got the part.

I I Kid you not my my parent my parents came home my mom and dad were actually like Getting lunch with like some of their friends and then they came home my mom got the email and she was like You got the part and I just started running around the house doing laps running down the hallway And I kept on saying repeatedly.

This is not real.

This is not real and

for a solo like 30 minutes too I was screaming and then finally I was like wait are you guys actually like are you guys is this actually real are you guys actually a thousand percent serious they were like yes they kept on telling me yes Hudson yes and I only started to really believe it when I got on that flight to New Jersey to act and then I actually met them because I was like this cannot be happening to me

I, this has always been my dream to be on a major movie set and now I finally get to do that.

And I was just in awe of everything.

I still don't think it's a hundred percent real, but you know,

it's okay.

First of all, that would be like, those would be the worst parents ever if they played that kind of joke on you.

You would have probably.

No, my parents are the best.

I love my parents.

Well, I'm sure they're obviously very supportive and to put you where you are and put you in a position, they've got to be like, when did you first tell them Hudson that this is what you wanted to do?

At the age of five, I saw Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible, the first Mission Impossible.

And after that movie, I ran to my parents' bedroom and I said, mom, I want to be an actor.

Dad, I want to be an actor.

I've been in love with it ever since and they've really supported my dream through and through and you know, I They've been unbelievably supportive to me and I just love them.

That's outstanding My guest is Hudson Henley.

He plays Dana in song sung blue the stepchild of Hugh Grant or Hugh Grant Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson's son and I want to talk to you I'm gonna ask you in a minute about the final scene your final scene but

What did were you familiar Hudson with Hugh Grant or Kate Hudson like before you got to the set?

Did you know their work

for sure?

Yeah Hugh Jackman's work, you know, obviously I've seen Wolverine I've seen all of his Marvin movies, but

I've also

seen the greatest showman And a bunch of other of his movies and I was like Hugh Jackman's like he's the best of both worlds.

He does Broadway, but he also does

um acting and I was um oh well he does acting in both but you know what

I mean like um

screen acting so I was like I that's my dream if I ever want to become an actor that's well I mean I obviously wanted to become an actor but if I achieve that dream then I definitely want to become Hugh Jackman and then Kate Hudson I was definitely familiar with as well I love the um I absolutely love the movie almost famous that's one of my favorite great movie

Totally movie.

Yeah, um, you know, I love I love music from the 70s and like 60s So that was that was a really cool movie.

I was and my mom absolutely loves Goldie Han and and Caruso, so I was like, yeah, that's really cool.

And I was like So on in the get this The premiere the um, I got to meet the one and only

Goldie Hawn at the premiere of the movie.

I was like, excuse

me, this is... I was like, I don't even believe this.

I have to be honest with you.

Yeah, she's an icon.

Kurt Russell's an icon.

Oh yeah, for sure.

But I will say, and this is just my opinion Hudson, that I think Kate...

and she's surpassed them.

She is so good.

Well, she was great and almost famous, like you said, but in Song Song Blue, she's Oscar nominated.

Obviously you're polling for her.

What do you think her chances are?

I think, well, I obviously am a little biased, but I think that she has a solid chance.

I agree.

I hope she wins.

I really do.

I do too.

Sorry.

I really do too.

I think she has like a...

like an 80% chance of winning because she is so good um I don't know um I don't want to spoil the movie but the way she handles um the accident and the way she uh the way she acts um like that it was it was it gives me chills it's

spectacular yeah she was

spectacular she

was she was great

so amazing

no question about that and very well said I want to ask you

before we get to a break.

I want to tell you this, and I was not expecting this to be the case.

So when someone from your team reached out to me to have you on the show, I was thrilled because I had just seen the movie.

I was kind of late to the party.

My favorite shot or my favorite scene in the whole film is when you're watching the video.

of Mike or Hugh Jackman.

That is such a sweet scene and you were so natural in it.

How were you coached or is that your natural talent?

Obviously it's collaborative and you were directed and all that kind of stuff but what were you thinking?

What were you thinking when you thought I have to approach this scene?

How am I going to do this?

What was on your mind?

I'm a bit of a method actor so I was kind of imagining that that was actually my dad and I just got really emotional inside but

I didn't I wanted to show not tell so I didn't want to like I wasn't gonna like cry I wasn't gonna be like oh my gosh but I was gonna feel it so and then actors do this a lot so they feel something and they don't realize what's happening with their face they don't try to make anything happen with their face but they really feel it deeply

right

and then it comes out as very natural which

you

actually do in real life so that's what I was kind of doing in that scene

Well, it totally worked, and you just, I mean, you were good through the whole movie, but that truly is my favorite scene in the whole film, and it was just very, very well done.

And that, to me, Hudson, that is gonna be the scene where, like I said, you were really good, you got great stuff for your reel through the whole movie, but that scene is where people are gonna go get that kid from Song of the Blue, like, honestly, God, I just think it put you on another level, so very well done.

And Kate Hudson was a good pretend mom.

We've established that.

She was a

great set mom.

She

actually gave me a blanket at the end of when we wrapped.

She gave me a blanket

with lightning

bolts on it, which

is great.

Hudson Henley is here from Song, Song, Blue.

He plays Dana and he is outstanding in it.

We're going to do a very short break and then we will come back and have a few more minutes left with our new pal Hudson Henley.

Tremendous little actor.

This is Peach Wabba in Nightlight on the Civic Media, our radio network.

You're listening to Civic Media.

Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.

So great.

That

is Hugh Jackman.

That is Hugh Jackman, right?

Erin, that's not the real deal.

Yes.

OK.

Hudson Milk.

OK, great.

That was so great.

The great thing about this film, folks, welcome back, by the way.

My name is Pete Schwabba.

This is Night Light.

We're talking about the film Song Song Blue with one of the main actors in the film.

Hudson Hensley is my guest here.

I called you Henley earlier.

I apologize for that Hudson, but You will forget like some of the music in this movie I had forgotten about like the music is so fun.

Did you know about Neil Diamond before you?

Before you were in the film,

of course everybody knows Neil Diamond I love yeah, I love Neil Diamond

especially you know crunchy granola sweet I discovered way more of his music when I like dove into his music of course because the movie is about a Neil Diamond tribute band and yeah I just realized I was like Neil Diamond has some really really good really good songs

you know

besides sweet Caroline and all

of

his popular songs

I was like, he really has a song for every mood, every occasion, really.

Very well said.

That's great.

So you are an award-winning actor.

You've already won two best actor awards at film festivals.

You've got another film coming out, Hudson, called The Wild Man of Shaggy Creek, where you play the lead role.

What was your experience like in that film?

Was that more pressure playing the lead, or how did you adjust to that?

Oh, it was my first ever movie.

So I

didn't know anything coming into filming.

And I would say it's a great experience because it was actually shot.

It was a great first experience, rather, because it was shot in Nashville.

So I got to go home

to my

own bed, you know, my

dogs and all

that stuff.

But yeah, it was mainly kids on set, which was nice to like ease me into it and not just be like only adults in my first movie.

So, you know, I got acclimated to the to the industry a little bit and I learned so much.

And, you know, everybody was really nice to me, kind to me.

And yeah, I loved it.

Well, it's very impressive.

My guest is Hudson Hensley.

You know, for you to get a part in a major film like this at your age without

Many credits.

You must have crushed the audition.

I mean, how was that process?

Are you a good auditioner?

Did you get nervous?

Tell us about it.

I would say so myself, but it's a self-tape audition.

So it's not with the director.

It's not with

the

casting director.

You get to do as many takes.

I think I did at least 20 takes with the actual audition that I sent in.

So yeah, you go you go and you film yourself with you know your ring light and then you got your phone and you got a blank background and then you do the lines that they give you and Then you send the audition in and then I didn't hear back for like three months and then they were like you're still being considered We'd like to call you back and so then I got on a zoom with them and then I performed my lines live with the director the casting director and Yeah

And then they didn't call me back for another three months.

And then in like October of 2024, they were like, okay, we need you to be in New Jersey in a week.

And they called my mom and they were like, you need to be in New Jersey with Hudson in a week.

And I was, and she was like, excuse me, what?

And then they had to explain to her that was for the movie.

And I was like, okay, I am not getting that audit.

I am not getting that role because it's been three months.

They haven't said anything

to

me.

I'm like, okay, I'll move on.

Maybe I'll get the next audition.

So, and then

I

was

in the

middle of filming the Wild Men of Shaggy Creek when they called my mom.

So luckily it lined up perfectly with

the

ending.

So I had one day in between to pack for Song Sun Blue and then to get flown to New Jersey for three months to shoot the movie.

Man, what a great story.

Thank you for letting us live vicariously through you.

This is so fun to hear this.

Hey, we have about a minute left, Hudson, and thank you for your time.

I hope this leads to so much work for you and your career just takes off.

Thank

you.

Um, what are you I ask a lot of my guests this because I love to talk about color television.

What are you watching?

Are you binge watching anything?

Yes, I'm actually in the middle of watching suits.

Oh

Yeah, I just discovered that on Netflix.

I was like, okay, I just finished um, I just finished another I just finished my Just finished a bunch of movies.

I haven't watched a TV show in a while Okay, let me see what's on Netflix and then I'm like, okay suits pops up and I'm like, you know what?

I'll give it a try

And then I watched the pilot and I'm like, okay, I'm hooked now.

So now I'm on season three.

Oh, and you've got so many seasons to watch.

I love finding a show when it's like, oh my God, there's 11 seasons.

This is gonna be fantastic.

There's nine seasons in suits and I'm like, let's go.

Well, you've earned a little TV time.

Keep up the great work.

Break the leg in all your future endeavors and please come back and talk to us sometime when you're the new Tom Cruise and doing all the new Mission Impossible movies.

It'll be a lot of fun.

So it's been great chatting with you and getting to know you and keep up the great work.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

All right.

That's Hudson Hensley, folks.

A really, really solid young actor who just crushed his role in Song Song Blue.

And I am sure we are going to see a lot more of him in the future.

What I was thinking, Aaron with the Henley.

Maybe I was thinking of Don Henley.

Maybe.

I wouldn't be one to say.

You wouldn't know.

That was really fun.

Check out, folks, Song Song Blue, a great movie.

You know, I said this before, it only matters to people here in Wisconsin.

But it would have been fun if the film was actually shot in Milwaukee, Mike and Claire's hometown.

But to be honest, regardless of that, it's a really fun movie with tons of charm, tons of heart, and obviously great music.

And as I've witnessed firsthand, really great acting with Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, and...

Hudson Hensley.

There you go.

All right.

We are coming back, folks.

We are going to break for the news here.

And we will be back with Act 2.

The popcorn pick of the week is coming up and director Jeff Flankenship.

And we'll read some of your texts.

All kinds of fun here on Nightlight, folks.

Great to have you here.

It's Peach Wabo.

We are coming back on the Civic Media or Radio Network.

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