What Is Love? We Asked Leah Lewis And Alice Wu From "The Half Of It"

Background:

I wrote this story for CLEO Singapore, it was written for the release of Netflix's The Half Of It. 

For this story, I was given the opportunity to interview Alice Wu, the director, and Leah Lewis, who stars in the movie. I had to prep the questions, interview the newsmakers, and then write the story. 

The article has since been viewed over 500 times by CLEO readers, and it's one of my favourite stories that I've written so far. It gave me the opportunity to prep and actually conduct an industry interview, and it also allowed me to learn how to write for interview stories, and how to angle it in a way so that readers get intrigued to watch the movie.

If you’re looking to watch the perfect modern-day coming-of-age movie, put The Half Of It on your watch list. It’s emotional, it’s humorous, it’s light-hearted—basically it’s the perfect teen movie you’ve been looking for. 

The dramedy stars Leah Lewis (who plays Ellie Chu), a shy, straight-A student who is hired by Paul Munsky (played by Daniel Diemer) to write love letters to help him win the heart of a popular girl. The pair forms an unlikely friendship, but it gets complicated when Ellie finds herself falling for the same girl.

The movie is directed by Alice Wu, who wanted to showcase the different forms of love and give a twist to the regular romantic trope. “I do think as a society, and certainly in stories, it’s all romantic love—there seems to be this thing where you have to find the person you’re gonna marry, and once you do, your life is complete. If you don’t, then you will die alone.”

She adds, “But as I got older, I realised there's much more nuances than that. And that romantic love is certainly important—it’s no less important—but it’s not any more important than all these other forms.”

We spoke to Leah and Alice over Google Hangout (because, circuit breaker) to get more details on the movie, which launches globally on Netflix today.

Images: Netflix

This movie is somewhat similar to Cyrano de Bergerac. Were there any other movies or shows that you took inspo from for this movie?

Alice: Yes! [The Half Of It] is actually very openly a modern-day retelling of Cyrano, but then it kind of has a twist—it’s taking the Cyrano plot and twisting it. I can certainly say there are films I’m inspired by, and a lot of them are actually referenced in the film. 

Casa Blanca, His Girl Friday, Philadelphia Story, Remains of the Day, (all these films) has its own triangle. Wings Of Desire has its own triangle. I was playing a bit with the romantic comedy trope. There are meaningful films to me that I grew up with. At moments, I would purposefully block a scene—just in a subtle way—that’s similar to the scene that [inspired] me. 

I heard that this movie was not initially set out to be a teen movie. What was it originally supposed to be?

Alice: I set out to write about 20-something best friends—a lesbian and a straight guy—trying to understand love, while not fully understanding their own connection. And then I hit a wall: I couldn’t find an ending—not in 100 pages—that felt both satisfying and earned. I didn’t know how to keep that love then, and I certainly don’t know now. So I threw up my hands and thought, “I should just set this thing in high school.” Because only in high school is everything heightened, every feeling the first and therefore, the only time you will feel this feeling. And, frankly, when it comes to love, don’t we all regress to being teenagers? As it often happens in my work, at a certain point, my characters took over, a whole Cyrano component slipped in, and the film became something else entirely. 

Leah, how did you prep yourself for the role?

Leah: Alice did ask if I could take a look at No Exit, which is mentioned in the film many times, and is basically what Ellie is trying to get Paul to understand—the underlying fact that Hell is other people. They have this really cute scene where they’re side by side and Ellie’s so frustrated trying to get him to understand this, and it’s just… totally beyond him! 

But, you know, for me, I was actually so excited that I got “homework”! I love reading, I love doing anything I can do to dive into a character as much as possible, and No Exit was very, very interesting. It actually drew a lot of parallels into the character (Ellie). And it actually drew a lot of parallels to the characters in The Half Of It. I mean, [Alice] really picked the perfect thing for me to study on. Preparing for Ellie, just kind of took hanging out with Alice—a lot! 

How similar are you to Ellie Chu?

Leah: So, I as Leah, am kind of a very loud, out-there human being, who loves to talk and hang out with people. Ellie Chu is a bit more laid-back, introverted, quiet, observant, and someone who kind of soaks in the beings around them rather than be in the action. 

So, Alice, actually really helped to tap into that quieter side of myself, by making playlists, also just by having these really intimate conversations about my life. Alice was really able to help me to naturally draw those similarities to Ellie.

At the beginning of the movie, Paul Munsky defines love as when "you get screwy". What is your definition of love?

Leah: For me, love is about collaboration, and it’s about acceptance. Love is the effort we put in. I think it stems from self-love too, and the way that we love ourselves reflects the way that we treat others and the people that come in contact with us. I feel like love is everything! For me, love is absolutely everything. 

Alice: I’m not sure how to define it. I don’t know. I guess it’s something you know when you feel it—like I know I feel it all the time, but it’s not something I know how to describe anymore.

What’s the message that you want people to take away from this movie?

Alice: There’s this idea that we're all searching for perfect love, which at the end of the day doesn't exist. But while you're on that doomed quest, you might have a shot at finding out who you are. Every person ultimately ends finding themselves, which is most important. 

Originally posted on CLEO Singapore