Scott Michael Foster in the Netflix interactive rom-com Choose Love
Note: This interview was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike.If you’re a fan of Netflix’s interactive content, e.g Black Mirror: BandersnatchA new interactive movie is coming this month, and if romantic comedy is more your style, Choose love should be on your radar. It’s a romantic comedy that puts the choice in the viewer’s hands, just like Netflix’s other interactive content.
MovieWeb had the opportunity to speak to ScottMichael Foster (Greek, Crazy ex girlfriend), one of the main actors of the new film. He shared more about the interactive filmmaking process, what we can expect from his character and who Choose love will respond.
Scott Michael Foster on filming an interactive project
Filming an interactive movie is a little different than a standard movie. Over the course of 44 days, Scott Michael Foster discussed that he and the crew “basically shot three complete films” that give viewers “tons of different pick points to choose from” and “16 different endings” to reach. However, this doesn’t come without lots of adjustments and small tweaks to reflect the options the audience will be choosing between.
It’s one of those things where you show up with the sides of the day and shoot a scene that’s X, Y, and Z. And then you go back and you say, ‘Okay, well, you did X and Y, and now we have ‘I’m going to change Z.’ And then you go back and say, “Okay, X and Z are the same, now change Y.”
The actor also noted that not only did the shooting involve many small changes to the sequences, but the script itself was non-traditional. Comparing it to a “Tree of Life” (rather than the film or the religious motif), Choose love moves in multiple directions instead of being read from top to bottom as one normally does when reading a script.
It’s so hard because I remember when I got the script, you don’t read it like a normal script, top to bottom of a page. It’s a side scroller, it’s like a tree of life that goes from left to right, it’s very confusing, but on each of those branches there are other branches that eventually return to your branch.
However, it was these small changes that caught Foster’s eye. When asked about his favorite scenes to film, he recalled a sequence in which he and Laura Marano, the actress who plays the female lead Cami, had an “inside dance joke” while playing a board game with another couple. Marano always did the inside joke a little differently, which ended up being a fun memory.
It was one of those nights where we just end […] just heartbreaking laughter just because we get it wrong over and over again.
Scott Michael Foster on his character Paul
Foster’s character Paul is one of the three people that the audience can choose Cami between. While the actor couldn’t tell us too much about the character at the time of the interview, Foster admits that he ends up “cheering for” “Paul,” the family attorney.
I think Paul is the more stable one, the person we would say would be a safe bet for Cami. He’s a lawyer, he’s a family lawyer, he’s good with kids.
For those who saw it Crazy ex girlfriend, Paul might look similar to Foster’s character Nathaniel. Though both are also lawyers, the actor describes Nathaniel as “kind of a work-in-progress” during his time on the show, though he “became that.” [a] lovely romantic person.” Paul is more of a romantic to begin with.
Paul was interesting because he’s sort of a romantic, he’s in love with Cami and wants to be with her and he’s doing everything he can, even when there are all those other factors.
The target audience for Netflix’s Choose Love.
There’s always an audience for romantic comedy, but Foster believes there’s more Choose love. When asked who he thinks the target audience is, he reiterated that romantic comedy fans would enjoy the film, especially because of director Stuart McDonald, with whom Foster had previously worked Crazy ex girlfriendHe is “great in this genre.”
However, he also notes Choose love will be a fun watch for anyone who is “curious about something new”. Foster went on to describe his experiences with Bandersnatchwhat “blew him away” and that the interactive Netflix specials are unique and different.
If you like romantic comedy and have never done anything interactive then this is for you because I think it’s just something different.
With so many choices and endings, viewers can have a unique experience every time they watch or talk to each other about the fundamentally different movies everyone has seen. Foster noted that this was one of the reasons the film intrigued him. The film isn’t “just about a story,” and that’s reflected both in the choices audiences will make and the insights they take away with each viewing.
I think people will interact one way on one look, and on another look they might interact in a totally different way and get a totally different plot out of it […] I think that you leave the film with a different experience every time.
Choose love will be available to stream and interact on Netflix starting August 31st.
