In the new musical “Begin Again,” Keira Knightley stars as a singer who’s broken up with her cheating boyfriend, played by Adam Levine (above, with Knightley). Luckily in the film, which opens Friday, she meets a music exec (Mark Ruffalo) who changes her life.
There was just one stumbling block: Knightley is not a singer.
Enter Roger Love, the self-proclaimed “number one vocal coach in America,” who’s trained Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix for “Walk the Line,” and Jeff Bridges for “Crazy Heart,” just to name a few.
Love says Knightley’s big challenge was self-esteem.
“It’s a big weight to know that you’re going to be starring opposite Adam Levine,” he says.
So Love worked to stretch Knightley’s range, teaching her to sing in her “middle voice” — the sound between “head voice” and “chest voice.”
Now she has six songs on the soundtrack, including one that describes her new talent: “Coming Up Roses.”