Taking chances on a happily-ever-after love after childhood best friends Alex and Rosie have gone through miles of separation, unwanted pregnancy and disastrous love affairs, can they still end up together in the end? In “Love, Rosie” is based on the bestselling novel “Where Rainbows End” by Cecelia Ahern and starred in by one of Hollywood’s brightest new talents, Lily Collins (“The Mortal Instruments:City of Bones,” “Mirror, Mirror”), co-starring Sam Claflin (“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”).
The film is based on the bestselling novel, “Where Rainbows End” from Irish author, Cecilia Ahern (“P.S. I Love You” author) from a screenplay by Juliette Towhidi (“Calendar Girls”) and is directed by Christian Ditter (The Crocodiles; Wickie and the Treasure of the Gods).
“Choosing the person you want to share your life with is one of the most important decisions any of us makes, ever. Because when it’s wrong, it turns your life to grey, and sometimes you don’t even notice until you wake up one morning and realize years have gone by... Sometimes you don’t see that the best thing that’s ever happened to you is sitting there, right under your nose,” states a line from the character Rosie. In director Christian Ditter’s new film Love, Rosie, Lily Collins and Sam Claflin star as Rosie and Alex, childhood friends seemingly destined to be together, yet a couple which fate itself seems determined to keep apart. The film paints a rich and textured canvas of a complicated yet lifelong bond between Rosie and Alex, beginning in their childhood, spanning a trans-Atlantic separation, and enduring ups and downs of romantic liaisons with everyone but each other resulting in some bittersweet consequences.
A rising star in Hollywood, Lily Collins marked her feature film debut alongside Sandra Bullock in the 2010 Oscar nominated film “The Blind Side.” In the short time since she’s filmed “Mirror, Mirror” with Julia Roberts, “Stuck in Love” with Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Connelly, “The English Teacher” with Kinnear, Julianne Moore and Nathan Lane, and “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.”
“I just fell in love with it right away,” says Collins of the Love, Rosie screenplay and her decision to take on the project. “After reading it, I just couldn’t imagine myself not playing the part.” “I think everyone has a little bit of Rosie in them and I know I certainly do,” Collins continues. “She’s charismatic, shy at times, but determined. She’s thrown into these situations that a normal teenage girl could be thrown into, but she doesn’t let anything deter her from reaching her goals…. She’s a bit kooky at times, but in the most endearing way possible. And, of course, she’s just incredibly strong.”
In collaboration with Ditter, Collins set about making the character her own. “In a sense it was about incorporating myself into Rosie and Rosie into me,” says the actress, who dropped her American accent for the role while simultaneously tackling the challenge of playing Rosie over the course of many years, following her transition from adolescence to adulthood.
“It was a great challenge,” says Collins of playing the character as she matures over time. “Instead of prosthetics, it was all hair and make-up and wardrobe changes, whether I use certain words as a young girl and then stop using them as an older one – even her mannerisms, the way she carries herself and walks change… In the end, I would watch the playback and go, ‘Oh my god that was so my mom!’”
“Lily is an incredibly smart and talented actress,” says Christian Ditter. “She’s very in touch with her feelings and very open emotionally. I basically just encouraged her to follow her heart and make each moment as truthful as possible.”
“I’ve never felt so terrified and vulnerable in a movie, but at the same time so protected and inspired,” Collins continues. “I never thought I’d be able to work on this kind of level and it was Christian who got that out of me.” “Lily is just a little jewel,” says Simon Brooks of his leading lady. “Every day, I’d have to say to her, ‘Do you have any idea how great your performance is?’ She was funny, but she also had these heavy emotional scenes that had to be treated with great care. I would also watch the people on set when she was doing a particularly emotional scene and how moved they would be…. She’s just been so committed to this project since day one. I’m so proud of her and what she’s done.”
“She’s a diamond,” agrees Sam Claflin, who plays Rosie’s unattainable love, Alex on screen. “It worked so well because we got to know each other so well,” says the young British actor. “You have to really get on with someone if you’re going to work together on this kind of level... I’d like to think we not only became friends, but friends for life."
“Love, Rosie” opens December 3 in cinemas from Pioneer Films.
