Nick Jonas on ‘Power Ballad’ role: ‘I’ve lived a lot of these experiences’

By Andrea Dresdale Jun 5, 2026 | 6:00 AM

Nick Jonas as Danny and Paul Rudd as Rick in ‘Power Ballad.’ (David Cleary)

In the new John Carney movie Power Ballad, Nick Jonas plays a former boy band member who steals a song from Rick — a wedding singer played by Paul Rudd — and uses it to establish his solo career. Nick said he really wanted work with Carney and Rudd, but took on the role of Danny in the film because he could relate to it on several levels.

“I’ve lived a lot of these experiences,” he told ABC Audio. “And not just the career stuff and the fame aspect of Danny’s life, but the songwriting and the journey to find yourself, push the envelope, do something different, the pressure that you can feel.”

That pressure is what leads Danny to claim Rick’s song as his own. Rick then crashes out, and begins regretting putting his own music career on hold to have a family. Nick says the movie asks the question, “How far would you go to get everything you ever wanted, and at what cost?”

Carney told ABC Audio that he chose Nick because it was important to him to cast an actual musician in the role of Danny.

“He just has stood on so many stages in the world. He walks onto a stage and he just is natural, he knows how it works,” Carney said. He added that an actor “can’t carry that off as well as a real singer who’s been onstage since he was like 6.”

As for Rudd, he shows off some very impressive singing and guitar skills in the film. But he didn’t look at it as a way to surprise people with his hidden talents.

“I’m always just like, ‘Oh God, I hope I don’t fall on my face,'” he said. “But I feel that with just about every job I do. … It’s more of just, ‘I hope it’s believable.'”