Though Kelly Canter, the character Gywneth Paltrow plays in 'Country Strong,' is fragile throughout much of the film, she pulls it together and turns into a performing powerhouse for part of the film. To conjure up the required verve and brio, she studied one of music's most electrifying live artists, Beyoncé.

"I went to two of her concerts," Gywneth told the Boot during a roundtable interview in Los Angeles. "I watched her DVD of her concert because as a performer, she defines superstar. She had not only an incredible self-confidence. Not only is she mind-bogglingly talented, but there's this abandon and fun and all this technique at the same time. It's like a master class. I thought if I can just get a thimble-full of what she has, maybe I can pull it off."

The Oscar-winning actress says she watched a number of country female artists as well and gleaned some tips there, too, but "we had also made the decision that Kelly would move more than country women really do, so that was a whole other part of it," she says.


While Gywneth had qualms about playing the character since she "didn't know how to do a lot of things [Kelly does], like play guitar and be addicted to pills and alcohol," she knew that the believability of her performance completed depended upon her ability to portray a seasoned superstar. "That's what scared me the most because I thought, 'I can sing OK and I could play somebody who is starting out, but to be as big as Kelly Canter, I mean, this is so specific and it's so rare, I was like, 'How am I going to do this?'"

Gwyneth's husband, Coldplay's Chris Martin, is frontman of one of the world's biggest music acts, but he was limited in his ability to provide assistance, through no fault of his own. "Of course, he was very helpful and supportive, but he's also a male in a band, which is a very different formula to being a woman out there," Gywneth says. "That's why I relied more on my women singer friends and picked their brains more and wanted to know how it all goes down."

She said she didn't talk to her famous friend Madonna about the role, but in addition to Beyoncé, she also looked to new bestie, Faith Hill. She previously told The Boot, that she also based the character on troubled rocker Courtney Love.

'Country Strong' is already playing in theaters in Nashville and Los Angeles. It opens nationwide on January 7.

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