Written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson, Love in the Villa hits Netflix on September 1st. The rom-com follows hopeless romantic, Julie Hutton (Kat Graham, The Vampire Diaries and Collide), who is blindsided when her boyfriend ends things right before their trip to Italy.
Opting to go on the vacation herself, things take a comedic turn when an error forces Julie to share a villa with Charlie (Tom Hopper, The Umbrella Academy), an obnoxious British man who's in town for business. The cast also includes Raymond Ablack, Laura Hopper, Sean Amsing, Emilio Solfrizzi, and Lorenzo Lazzarini.
Screen Rant chats with stars Kat Graham and Tom Hopper about crafting their characters' hate-to-love romance.
Screen Rant: As actors, you've both done a lot of different genres, films, TV shows...What stood out for each of you about this rom-com?
Kat Graham: It was just such a funny, beautiful script. I read a lot of scripts, and I had never laughed and cried so much at the same time. I just loved the script; it stood out. There were also little eerie similarities between my own life and the character that was a bit daunting. I was like, "I have to do this, I'm meant to do this."
Tom Hopper: Yeah, and for me, it was so different to look at a movie like this and want to do it. As Kat said, we read so many movies, and most of them I find very hard to really connect with and kind of get into the story. Just having that desire to want to do it, you know? To really connect with a character. And this just really stood out. As Kat said, it's got real heart. It's funny, and it makes you feel good. And very few movies on the page even do that, let alone when they get to screen.
When a script does that it can become quite appealing before you even throw in all the seasoning of the fact that it's going to be shot in Verona, and it's all romantic, and it's in a beautiful setting and everything. On the page, it really stood out. And then Mark Steven Johnson sealed the deal for me, because he's just such an amazing filmmaker in person. I love the guy to bits. So I'd work with him a thousand times over.
Screen Rant: This film has some of my all-time favorite tropes. Who doesn't love a good enemies-to-lovers/forced-proximity type of story? What kind of work did you do together to shape this dynamic?
Tom Hopper: We had rehearsals, we had read throughs with Mark, I think, really more than anything. We hung out a lot off-set as well, all of us as a group. And I think finding that comfort with each other, as actors, you know, is really, really important on something like this. Because there has to be a trust there, I think. Even though you're playing these roles, and you play these characters that kind of hate each other to start off with, there has to be a trust there.
And that's what allows you to be able to play. And I'm sure Kat will say herself, but for me, I got comfortable with Kat very quickly and being able to play with her and enjoy discovering stuff in the scenes, and that's a testament, I think, to Kat as an actor as well. She's very open. She was very open to just playing and trying stuff and being very prepared at the same time. So that's rare. And it was a gift, I think, for this movie. And that also comes along with Mark, the director, being the same kind of influence in that as much as he did.
Kat Graham: Yeah, it really helps when you're working with an actor you like. And then their wife comes on the show, and you love her too! And you just want to hang out with these two people all the time. So that's Tom and Laura and Mark. We all hung out a lot. And I'm not usually like that. I like to keep to myself, I'm a private person, I've got a ton of work to do.
I'm always doing twenty things at the same time. But I just wanted to hang out with these people all the freaking time and just talk and talk and eat and talk. We just genuinely really loved each other and wanted the best possible outcome for each other and our families and the world and people to love this movie. Everyone just put their best foot forward every day, and we had a blast.
Love in the Villa Synopsis
A young woman (Kat Graham) takes a trip to romantic Verona, Italy, after a break up, only to find that the villa she reserved was double-booked, and she’ll have to share her vacation with a cynical and very good-looking British man (Tom Hopper).
Check out our previous interviews with Kat Graham for Collide and with Tom Hopper for The Umbrella Academy.
Love in the Villa is available to stream on Netflix starting September 1.