'Shang-Chi's Simu Liu Talks His New Romantic Comedy ‘One True Loves’
Moviefone speaks with Simu Liu about 'One True Loves.’ “Taylor Jenkins Reid is just such a gifted writer” Liu said about the screenplay for his new film.
Simu Liu as Sam in the romance/drama/comedy film, 'One True Loves,' a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
The popular novel ‘One True Loves’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid is coming to theaters. The book-to-screen adaptation stars Marvel actor Simu Liu, Broadway songstress Phillipa Soo, and Luke Bracey.
What is the plot of ‘One True Loves?'
Directed by Andy Fickman (‘Heathers: The Musical’), ‘One True Loves’ is based on a novel of the same name, written by NY Times bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid (‘Daisy Jones and the Six’). The author also penned the screenplay with her husband and both serve as executive producers on the film. The movie focuses on Emma (Phillipa Soo), who is living the perfect life with her husband Jesse (Luke Bracey) until he disappeared in a tragic helicopter crash. Four years later, Emma has found love again with her best friend Sam (Simu Liu) and is about to be married when Jesse resurfaces, throwing all three into a complicated love triangle.
Who is in the cast of ‘One True Loves?'
‘One True Loves’ stars Phillipa Soo (Broadway’s ‘Hamilton’, ‘Shining Girls’) as Emma, Simu Liu (‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’) as Sam, and Luke Bracey (‘Hacksaw Ridge’) as Jesse. The film also stars Tom Everett Scott (‘Finding You’) as Emma’s brother-in-law Michael, and Michela Conlin (‘Bad Trip’) as Emma’s sister Marie.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Simu Liu about his work on ‘One True Loves,’ playing the romantic lead in a rom-com, working with Phillipa Soo and singing 'Hamilton' songs on set, recording and performing an original song for the movie soundtrack, and his excitement to return for 'Shang-Chi 2.'
(L to R) Phillipa Soo as Emma and Simu Liu as Sam in the romance/drama/comedy film, 'One True Loves,' a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
Moviefone: To begin with, this, as you know, is a book-to-screen adaptation. So for a project like this, when you approach it, do you go ahead and read the book ahead of time or do you let the script dictate your instincts?
Simu Liu: Yeah, I think in this case, when Sarah (Halley Finn) brought the project to me, I kind of right away ordered the book just because as an actor, I mean, you really just want any help you can to try to get into the world that you’re about to step into. And then I was kind of encouraged to not necessarily favor the script, but I was encouraged to not get too deep into the book because it’s still, at the end of the day, an adaptation, and a book takes a lot longer to read than a two-hour movie. And so I really wanted to treat the script as much of the Bible as possible. That didn’t mean that I didn’t go through the book and mark down passages that I thought were extremely relevant because Taylor Jenkins Reid is just such a gifted writer, and there are passages that I would highlight and I would say, “oh my goodness, this is just an amazing piece of writing” and it helps me get into some sort of a headspace of where Sam would be at. So that definitely happened, but I also wanted the script to be its own star, and I wanted the words on the script, which were also written by Taylor (Jenkins Reid) to reign supreme. And so that was kind of the song and dance around that. But all of that to say, I mean, I can’t say enough just how incredible of an opportunity it was to get to work with Taylor because she crafted the script as well as the book. We really got to sit down with her and get really granular with scenes, with character. And I’ll just kind of go out and say it. I’m obsessed with ‘Daisy Jones and The Six’. I just think she’s such an amazing storyteller, so I really relished the opportunity to do that with her.
MF: In the film, Emma is faced with a very difficult decision. She has to choose between the man she married and the one she’s engaged to, and she’s in love with both. Do you think it's possible to have two true loves at once in real life?
SL: Yeah, I mean, the core kind of conceit of the movie is that it is possible to have two true loves or multiple true loves over the course of one’s life, because who you are as an individual is constantly shifting. And just because you are a right for one person at a specific moment in time or right to be with one person at a specific moment in time doesn’t mean that there’s a chance that these two people will eventually grow into people who are not meant to be together. So I don’t know if I agree with the notion that at one time there can be two true loves, but I think that’s the struggle that Emma has. She’s reconciling somebody who she feels is right for her now, versus someone who she was sure was right for her 10 years ago. And yeah, that’s, I think, what makes this story so engaging and so spicy is because I think we’ve all in some way, shape, or form, felt that call to an early love, that call of like, “oh, but if we were meant to be back then, what if we’re still meant to be? What if it was always meant to be all along?” And what I really love about this book and about what Taylor did was she kind of throws cold water on that notion and is like, no, give yourself some credit for the person that you became and know that that person needs very different things than, that younger version of you. And if somebody sees you in your present for all that you are, then that’s worth something.
Phillipa Soo as Emma in the romance/drama/comedy film, 'One True Loves,' a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
MF: Can you talk a little bit about working with Phillipa Soo?
SL: Yes. I mean, I was such a big fan of her going into the project, and she was a big part of why I signed on to do this movie. I really, really wanted an opportunity to work with her, also potentially an opportunity to sing 'Hamilton' to her, which she was very gracious about because I really enjoyed doing it on set. And she was very patient with me, I’ll say that. No, she’s just such an amazing, professional, collaborative human, and some of my favorite memories of this shoot were just kind of sitting down with her and crafting what we wanted this Sam and Emma relationship to be. And I think we both agreed that we wanted this relationship more than anything else to feel safe because that was, I think, all along that that is Sam’s number one priority. Knowing everything that Emma has been through, knowing the trauma that she faces and that she deals with every single day, Sam has made the choice that he needs to provide a safe environment and he needs to succeed in order for Emma to be in a place where she’s willing to marry him at the beginning of the story. So I love talking to her about that. Love sharing our individual thoughts on relationships and loved working with her, just such a constant professional.
MF: Speaking of singing 'Hamilton,' you wrote and performed the song ‘Don’t’ for this movie. So talk about how that came about and the recording process.
SL: Yeah, so ‘Don’t’. My God, it’s so crazy that you know that. I guess it’s on the talking points, I didn’t know how much of an easter egg it would be.
(L to R) Phillipa Soo as Emma and Simu Liu as Sam in the romance/drama/comedy film, 'One True Loves,' a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
MF: I heard it during the end credit and my ears picked it up, and I was like, "That’s Simu."
SL: Oh my God, that’s incredible. Yeah, so my musical journey kind of started with the ‘Shang-Chi (and the Legend of the Ten Rings)’ soundtrack, actually. I was working with 88rising to promote it and kind of offhandedly, because I do this sometimes, I jokingly say things that I actually want. For example, in 2018 when I was like, “Hey, wouldn’t it be great if I was a superhero?” And I’m too afraid to actually earnestly ask for it, but I kind of jokingly was like, “Hey, let me know. I’ve always wanted to be a musician, so let me know if I can hop on a song or something.” And Sean Miyashiro who runs 88rising, the label that we were working with was like, “Actually, why don’t you come into the studio tomorrow?” And “we got the song that we were kind of working through and we would love for you to try it.” And I was like, “Okay, sure.” And that song ended up being ‘Hot Soup’, which, not that I check every day, but has been streamed on Spotify over 3 million times, and that's a respectable number. I was just really blown away by that opportunity and kind of casually asked again after, “Hey, would you guys be interested in doing something a little bit more long-form with me?” And that was about a year and a bit ago. And before I knew it, I was being paired with producers, and songwriters, I was getting in studios and recording songs. And so ‘Don’t’ was one of the songs that came out of that. And now it is, for whatever reason, because I shared it with Andy (Fickman), just kind of on a night out, is now about to be a part of this movie soundtrack, which is just crazy.
MF: Finally, you’ve got a lot of work coming up, including 'Shang-Chi 2,' which you just talked about a little bit. Having gone through all the rigorous training and the filming for the first one, how are you approaching 'Shang-Chi 2?'
SL: I am approaching 'Shang-Chi 2' with a feeling of just kind of unadulterated excitement. I think there’s no sense of the pressure to perform as we had maybe the last time around. I think now we’re dealing with a character that people know for in some way, shape, or form. And so there’s going to be a lot of joy to returning into that world and bringing the audience back into that world as well. But at the same time, showing them hopefully new facets of Shaun’s character, but also showing some really, really awesome action sequences that were celebrated the last time around. So yeah, just really, really excited, feeling a lot more grounded and confident now that the first one is out and was celebrated in the way that it was, and just impatient to get back into it.
Simu Liu in Marvel Studios' 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.' Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021.
Other Movies Similar to ‘One True Loves:’
- 'The Notebook' (2004)
- 'The Fault In Our Stars' (2012)
- 'Call Me By Your Name' (2017)
- 'Crazy Rich Asians' (2018)
- 'The Kissing Booth' (2018)
- 'Love, Simon' (2018)
- 'To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before' (2018)
- 'Five Feet Apart' (2019)
- 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' (2021)
Where to Stream and Watch Online: 'One True Loves'
Buy Simu Liu Movies On Amazon
‘One True Loves’ is produced by Volition Media Partners, Gosdom Entertainment, Studio507, Blue Rider Pictures, Thomasville Pictures, SquareOne Productions, Oops Doughnuts Productions, Storybook Entertainment, El Ride Productions, I Think Productions, and Streamline Global, and will be in theaters on April 7, on digital April 14, and On-Demand on April 28.
To watch our exclusive interviews with Phillipa Soo and Luke Bracey about 'One True Loves,' please click on the video player below.
