How To Make Gravy stars reveal Paul Kelly’s reaction to movie adaptation of his classic song

Hugo Weaving and Daniel Henshall have revealed their heartfelt interactions with legendary musician Paul Kelly after starring in the film adaptation of his hit song.

It’s not every day that a hit song is adapted into a feature film. But when you place talented stars Hugo Weaving and Daniel Henshall in front of a camera, and have director Nick Waterman and songwriter Meg Washington working behind the scenes, magic happens.

With the commissioning of BINGE, the creative cast and crew brought Paul Kelly’s classic Christmas song How To Make Gravy to the big screen almost 30 years since its release in 1996 – and the legendary musician is thrilled with the outcome, so much so he was “visibly shaken” after watching the movie.

“It was very special to talk to Paul before the film and after the film,” Weaving tells news.com.au of their interaction at the film’s recent Sydney premiere.

“He had seen the film before and he had quite a strong reaction to the film in a very positive way, so it was lovely.”

Legendary singer Paul Kelly with How To Make Gravy director Nick Waterman and songwriter Meg Washington.

Paul Kelly speaks to media including news.com.au at the Sydney premiere on November 21. Picture: Saverio Marfia/Getty Images

Just like the song, this Christmas movie tells the story of a newly imprisoned man named Joe (Henshall), who writes a letter home to his family as they prepare to celebrate their first Christmas without him.

The rest of the cast also take their names and are born from Kelly’s lyrics. There is Joe’s tortured son Angus (Jonah Wren Phillips), his brother Dan (Brenton Thwaites) who is helping the family while Joe does time, and his long-suffering wife Rita (Agathe Rousselle) who, according to the song lyrics, is “the one to save me”.

Weaving’s character, a veteran prisoner named Noel, is not actually referenced in the song. But his character is pivotal to the film as he guides Joe on the road to redemption.

Stream How To Make Gravy from December 1 on BINGE, available on Hubbl.

Daniel Henshall portrays Joe in the movie adaptation of How To Make Gravy. Photo: BINGE / Jasin Boland

Hugo Weaving plays alongside Henshall in the Christmas movie. Picture: Binge

“Noel kind of acts as a father figure, the father figure that perhaps Joe lost a long time ago when he was a kid. So he is a sort of father figure not just to Joe, but to all the men in the prison, and perhaps to hopefully to some men watching the film as well,” says Weaving, 64.

“He’s a father figure and, because it’s a Christmas movie, he’s kind of also a little bit like Santa.”

Henshall is stellar in the role of Joe, with the 42-year-old actor capturing the angst of the song in his performance. He initially worried about what Kelly would think about his take on the protagonist, but a brief encounter with the 69-year-old musician at the bathroom during the Sydney premiere put his mind at ease.

Kelly’s iconic song is about a man named Joe who spends Christmas away from his family after he is imprisoned. Picture: BINGE / Jasin Boland

Weaving plays Noel in the film who is like a father figure to Joe. Picture: BINGE / Jasin Boland

“I’m sure Paul will be all right with me sharing this, but I saw him after the screening in the bathroom, and he was visibly shaken and was visibly moved by the film,” Henshall tells news.com.au.

“He had only seen the film on his laptop – he’d been sent a link. But he was beyond appreciative of how this film had manifested and the response that he got and what that meant to him was very special, I suppose.

“He said, ‘I was having quite an out of body experience. It lived in my mind, and then it lived in a song and there’s a gravy day, and it’s the Australian Christmas song, and now it’s a film, and the film has just worked in so much of my career into the film, but it’s this completely different thing that has come from this, from here.’ He was very moved and it was really lovely, actually, to see how moved he was.”

French actress Agathe Rousselle portrays Joe’s wife Rita. Picture: BINGE / Jasin Boland

Young actor Jonah Wren Phillips is Joe’s son Angus. Picture: BINGE / Jasin Boland

Brenton Thwaites also gives credit to the iconic musician but says married couple Waterman and Washington should be well applauded for taking the song to the next level.

“I feel like that is very well represented in the film,” Thwaites, 35, tells us.

“However, I think the film took on its own form and own shape. It’s that wonderful thing of art. When you create something, you let it go, it’s not yours anymore. And in a way, that Gravy Day and the Kellyverse has become this otherworldly thing that Paul probably never intended to do.”

Brenton Thwaites, who plays Joe’s brother Dan in the film, attends the Sydney premiere. Picture: Saverio Marfia/Getty Images

Hugo Weaving was also at the Sydney premiere held at the Palace Cinemas in Moore Park. Picture: Saverio Marfia/Getty Images

Gravy Day is an unofficial Australian holiday marked by fans, aka the Kellyverse, as December 21 – the day Joe writes his letter in the song.

“He just wrote a great song, recorded it, put it out, and then it’s not really his anymore. It’s his song, but it’s more to us,” Thwaites says. “It means different things to different people, and I think the exact same thing will happen with the film.”

Adds Henshall: “The film has been taken into its own space. For those who don’t know the song or aren’t a fan of PK’s music, they can appreciate it just as a piece of cinema, as a Christmas film, a piece of entertainment away from the song. But the more and more you get into it, the more and more you’re going to understand the two are intrinsically linked.”

How to Make Gravy premieres December 1 on BINGE, available on Hubbl and watch On Demand on Foxtel.