Billy Joel’s ‘Uptown Girl’ Plays Big Role in New ‘Trainwreck’ Movie

There's a cool surprise for Billy Joel fans in Amy Schumer's new romantic comedy Trainwreck.

The Judd Apatow-directed film follows a free-spirited magazine writer played by Schumer through her budding relationship with a sports doctor portrayed by Bill Hader. Turns out the guy's favorite song is Joel's '80s-era paean to marrying up, "Uptown Girl." And the song shows up quite a bit, and plays a central role, in the movie, which opens today.

For Apatow, the choice was personal. "I'm from Long Island, so there's always going to be a lot of Billy Joel surrounding me," Apatow told The Hollywood Reporter. "We all went to see him when we were shooting the movie. His music's not in a lot of movies, so it was very effective."

More often you'll hear "Uptown Girl" – a No. 3 hit from Joel's 1983 album, An Innocent Man – on the small screen, with memorable appearances during episodes of The Simpsons, Glee and 30 Rock, among other TV shows. The track, however, has a notable presence in Trainwreck – though Hader admits he was never as big of a Joel fan as Apatow.

"It’s a song you listen to on the radio," Hader told Uproxx. "I don’t know if I own any Billy Joel records, but that song is good. I felt bad because Judd wanted me to know the song to sing it, and I never fully learned the song."

See Billy Joel and Other Rockers in the Top 100 Albums of the '70s

25 Interesting Rock Movie Facts