Rachel McAdams screamed herself hoarse making Eurovision Song Contest

In Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga, Rachel McAdams is Sigrit Ericksdottir, an Icelandic school teacher with an angelic voice and a crush on longtime friend and collaborator Lars Erickssong. (As the pair say in the movie, they’re probably not related.) Behind the scenes, McAdams studied copious amounts of Björk clips to pick up the Icelander accent, harnessing the twee strength of the avant garde icon both on-screen and off.

The A.V. Club talked to McAdams about that process, as well as her relationship to the actual Eurovision Song Contest going into the movie. We also talked about her tips for a really great lip sync (McAdams doesn’t entirely sing her parts in the film), and how hours of real-life singing resulted in the actor losing some of her vocal fortitude.