Hugh Jackman’s new film, in which he plays a tribute performer of Neil Diamond, is facing backlash from the real-life son of the character.
“My father’s rolling in his grave right now,“ Michael ”Mike” Sardina Jr., 41, told the Daily Mail, expressing his dissatisfaction with the new film Song Sung Blue about his father and stepmother, Mike and Claire Sardina.
The Sardinas, a Milwaukee couple, performed as the popular Neil Diamond tribute band “Lightning & Thunder.”
The film stars Jackman, 57, as Mike and Kate Hudson, 46, as Claire, chronicling the couple’s romance, their career in the tribute band, a 1999 accident that led to Claire losing her foot, and (spoiler alert!) Mike’s death in 2006 at age 55.
According to Mike Jr.’s interview with the outlet, he and his sister Angelina, 40—Sardina’s children from his marriage before Claire—reportedly received what he described as “a pathetic $30,000” to serve as consultants on the movie.
While Angelina was portrayed in the film by singer King Princess, Mike Jr. said his “existence” was “purposely cut out of the film.”
“I didn’t have any contact with King Princess, who played me,” Angelina told the Daily Mail, adding that she also did not have any contact with Jackman or Hudson, or anyone else from the cast—something that, according to the outlet, was not stipulated in her contract.
Despite claiming they did not speak with the cast, both of Sardina’s children were invited to the movie’s New York City premiere on Dec. 11, alongside their stepmother, Claire, 64, and her daughters Dayna, 37, and Rachel Cartwright, 41, who are both portrayed in the film and are from Claire’s previous relationship.
“I walked right up to Kate Hudson, introduced myself,” Mike Jr. said about his experience at the premiere, before calling out the actress and Jackman as “monsters” who don’t mention his “existence” in interviews and didn’t try to contact him during the filming process, even though he “was the most prevalent force” in his father’s life.
“The only thing that was true is the love between my dad and Claire,” Angelina told the outlet, reportedly showing messages from the director of the film acknowledging that there was “so much that I didn’t get that was accurate.”
“I want the true story out there, and I want it used with truth, with dignity, and I want retribution,” Mike Jr. said, adding that he wants to hold NBCUniversal and other parties involved in the film accountable because they “screwed” his family over.
Unlike Sardina’s children, his wife Claire has praised Hudson’s portrayal of her in the film, which the actress said was largely based on a 2008 documentary about the couple.
Song Sung Blue earned $12 million over the four-day Christmas holiday period.
The Daily Beast has reached out to representatives for Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, and Craig Brewer, as well as to Focus Features, for comment.
