Matthew McConaughey praises Bono for his role in ‘Sing 2’

Matthew McConaughey rained praise on musical icon Bono during the premier event for Sing 2, which hits theaters on Dec. 22.

Bono joined a star-studded cast in the animated follow-up to Sing, which was released in 2016 to surprisingly positive critical reviews. The film will feature a number of big names alongside Bono, including McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon, Halsey, and Seth McFarlane. The film pulled a “coup” in cinching Bono, according to McConaughey, who spoke with Variety during the film’s red carpet premiere.

“We pulled a legend in the music rock and roll world to come with us and play on our team on this film. It was a coup to get him,” McConaughey said. He compared the real-life task of plucking up Bono to moments from the film itself, in which the cast attempts to convince Bono’s character, Clay Calloway, to join them for a competition.

“Getting him for the movie was very much like getting Clay Calloway, the character he plays in the movie; it’s a coup to get him,” he said. “If they show is to succeed, we need him onstage.”

Bono was accompanied by his U2 bandmate the Edge for the upcoming film’s premiere event. The 61-year-old musician described Sing 2‘s director, Garth Jennings, as “brilliant,” and dug into how he and the Edge composed an original song for the film.

“He’s kind of like a fictional character himself. He’s got a very brilliant brain; wrote the film, directed it, and can do all the voices, but he stays kind of like a child and I think that is key to his creativity,” Bono said of Jennings. The song, according to his interview with Variety, is “very simple at first glance” but is far more “complex” than it seems.

“The simple ones are the hardest to write,” he said. He also praised the song’s “incredible chords,” which Edge was apparently “hiding for a special occasion.”

That special occasion turned out to be Sing 2, which features a number of musical and television heavy-hitters alongside Bono and McConaughey. Among the film’s stars is Nick Kroll, who joined McConaughey in praising Bono’s performance. He gushed about how “awesome” it was to work alongside Bono, but lamented how “terrible” it was “to sing one of his songs in the movie” and know that Bono “has to hear me destroy it.”