The director of The Other Zoey was all smiles when we spoke with them about their new movie. The new rom-com of the month, The Other Zoey follows the titular young college student (Josephine Langford), who is trying to build an app to match people based on compatibility, not love. After a chance encounter and accident with one of her school’s soccer players, Zach (Drew Starkey), she has to pretend to be his girlfriend while trying to impress his cousin Miles (Archie Renaux), the guy she’s actually interested in. Of course, pretending to be his girlfriend doesn’t go according to plan, resulting in her catching feelings for Zach and forcing her to reconsider her views on love while trying to navigate the other relationships in her life.
We had the chance to speak with Sara Zandieh, director of The Other Zoey and A Simple Wedding, to hear more about her connections to romantic comedies, helping young actors stretch their comedic wings, and the filming restrictions they faced during production.
Growing Up with Classic Rom-Coms
The Other Zoey is not Zandieh’s first romantic comedy, and the director spoke about what stands out to her about the genre. She discussed how she grew up on the rom-coms of the ’80s and ’90s, especially as a young adult. She also shared that John Hughes, director of The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles among others, is “one of [her] favorite directors” and “hero.”
“I grew up loving rom-coms. I was a ‘90s teen and I just love all those movies… I was just like, breastfed on those movies. I love them so much and it was such a big part of my development as a young adult. I really took refuge in those movies with my friends and family.”
She noted part of why these films made such an impact on her is because she could share them with her family and that they are one of the more accessible types of films for audiences. As the daughter of immigrant parents, she couldn’t watch “the more high-art stuff” with them, but she could watch rom-coms with them.
“The other thing I really love about the ‘80s and ‘90s rom-coms is that it was something I could share with my family. I had immigrant parents, and so I couldn’t […] share some of the more high-art stuff. They were just movies that everybody could access, so the accessibility and just that you could share them with friends or family or both.”
Ultimately, Zandieh thought The Other Zoey was similar to the movies she grew up with and shared with her family. She enjoys making films “that bring people together to celebrate the message of love and family,” and the script for this one reminded her “of those types of movies.”
When I read the script it reminded me of those types of movies from the ‘80s and ‘90s that I loved so much as a young adult and I was just excited to dive in. The movie is kind of like an homage to all those movies. And to my hero, John Hughes.
Stretching Comedic Wings
The cast is full of known names and young actors many will recognize from recent dramatic roles. Additionally, both Heather Graham (License to Drive, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues) and Andie MacDowell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Groundhog Day) appear in motherly roles in this rom-com but are well-known for their roles in the ’80s and ’90s. Zandieh was excited to work with Graham and MacDowell after watching them in her “favorite movies” growing up:
I was really excited that Heather Graham and Andie MacDowell signed on to the movie. They’re just like, iconic, they were so iconic when I was a young adult, especially in comedies and those were my favorite movies.
The young cast — Josephine Langford, Mallori Johnson, Drew Starkey, and Archie Renaux — are known more for their efforts in drama or fantasy series. Langford and Johnson are primarily known for their roles in adaptations, with Langford playing the lead role of Tessa in the popular YA film series After, and Johnson playing the lead role in the FX series Kindred. Starkley and Renauz are known for their roles in the popular Netflix shows Outer Banks and Shadow and Bone, respectively.
With that in mind, this was some of their first big moves into more comedic roles and movies, and the director is excited about how they did. Zandieh shared how well she believes they did with the transition and how open they were to trying new things during production.
They were all tackling comedy for the first time and I think they all just did such a great job and were so open to experimenting and playing around, and they just really played ball.
Filming During COVID
When asked about the challenges she faced during production, the director cited filming during COVID as the most significant challenge. Ensuring they were following all protocols and guidelines, as well as navigating an “uptick” of COVID during production, presented unique obstacles for the industry at the time, especially in trying to film sequences with a lot of people.
There was just a whole set of protocols we had to follow, so I would say the whole production, given the circumstances, was a challenge.
But as they say, nothing good is easy. The Other Zoey hits theaters on October 20 and is available to purchase for VOD starting on November 10.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
