As he began writing MUSIC AND LYRICS, Lawrence had only one actor in mind for
the role of Alex Fletcher, Hugh Grant,with whom he had previously worked on the romantic comedy TWO WEEKS' NOTICE. Having great respect for the actor's talent
made it an easy choice. “He's the best comedic actor I can think of,”Lawrence comments. “He's great with a lot of words, and I write way too many words in my scripts. Thankfully,Hugh doesn't object. Also,he could play both the rock star side of this part and the guy who's very verbal,articulate and intelligent.”
Grant was immediately taken with the script.“I read a lot of romantic comedies and there are very few that make me laugh out loud on the page. This one did. I think Marc Lawrence is truly funny as a writer,though I have never liked him asa man,”he says with his tongue firmly placed in cheek.
When it came time to cast the woman who would become Alex's perfect partner in both business and romance,Lawrence approached Drew Barrymore. “Drew was the person I most wanted to send the script to. She's spontaneous and really, really funny,”states Lawrence.“And she also hac vulnerability as an actress.There's nothing she can't do. When Drew smiles she takes the whole theater with her.”

While Grant and Barrymore had never worked together prior to beginning MUSIC AND LYRICS, they both admired the other's craft. 　“Hugh is a trmendous comedian and he's incredibly charming,”says Barrymore.“His acting has an old-fashioned,beautiful quality.” 　“Drew brings a charm to any role. She's so clever and,apart from being a brilliant actress,she's also a very good bloke. She has a calming effect on set,”notes Grant.“Plus she makes her leading men look good,which is another reason I was so keen to work with her.” 　Lawrence sums it up.“I think we've got a really terrific pairing in Hugh and Drew.”

“When I first spoke to Hugh about MUSIC AND LYRICS,he told me he certainly didn't play any musical instruments,definitely didn't sing and couldn't dance,”confides the director.“It was then that I knew I had to write a musical role for him and force him to do every single one of those things.He went through agony not to mention tremendous hatred of me for putting him in this position,”Lawrence laughs.“And then he went through lots of singing lessons,piano lessons and dance lessons.I have to say,he really applied himself.Hugh's work ethis is unbelievable.” “When I took the part of Alex I couldn't sing or play.I'd taken a year of piano when I was nine years old with Andrrew Lloyd Webber's mother as my instructor,but I gave it up,”lements Grant.“But they hired the very best people to knock me into shape musically for the film and I actually started enjoying it. I didn't realize how soothing playing the piano could be. I'd get back from a long day's work and I'd play and sing deep into the night. I came to frankly adore the sound of my own voice through no one else did.” 　Michael Rafter,who served as voice and piano coach for the film,helped train the cast to sing. “Hugh and I began with voice,”says Rafter.“And then about a week or two into it I startedteaching him basic piano. He'd faked playing on other films,but on this movie he really learned to play the instrument. In fact,he plays the entire song‘Don't Write Me Off’on stage in front of extras in the film.”

Coaching Barrymore was a bit easier for Rafter because, unlike Grant and Bennett's characters, Sophie doesn't have to sing live in front of thousands of extras.“Drew does sing in one scene of the film. She was a bit nervous at first,”admits the voice coach,“but she opened up and surprised herself. She's a joy.” 　Choreographer Dan Karaty's biggest challenge was to turn Hugh Grant into someone who moves like an‘80s pop star. “We looked at footage of groups like Duran Duran and Wham and then discussed what we liked and disliked,”notes Karaty.“We found some funny hip movements−Tom Jones style. I told Hugh that the most important thing was for him to go out there and do his own thing. He really played it for the adoring fortysomething fans. The scenes are hysterical.”

Lawrence believes that the song “Way Back Into Love”taps into the film's theme in the most concise way.“A pair of lines reads ‘I'm looking for inspiration,not just another negotiation,' ”he notes.“I think that life, to some extent,
is a constant struggle betweens those two things. We're all loking for inspiration and those moments of transcendence where your fairy tales of fantasies come true.”
He continues,“The reality is that most of life is closer to a negotiation...especially the day-to-day,mundane aspects of l\how we live. Deep down,we know you can't have the inspiration all of the time,and we hope not to have to negotiate so much either,so somewhere in the battle between those two is magic. Alex and Sophie find that magic and I think we all deserve more of that in our lives.”