The cast of “Rye Lane” says the film’s unique love story is a “lesson about vulnerability”

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David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah in Rye Lane.

In a world where cheesy, heart-wrenching plots have become the tried-and-true formula for most rom-coms, “Rye Lane” is anything but that. The comedic Raine Allen-Miller-directed film, which premiered in UK theaters on March 17 and globally on Hulu on March 31, turns your typical meet-cute story on its head with a humorous south London tale that revolves around 20-somethings Dom (David Jonsson) and Yas (Vivian Oparah), who happen to fall in love one day after the two have a random encounter in a public restroom while reeling with heartbreak.

At the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where “Rye Lane” first premiered, Jonsson tells POPSUGAR that he found the film’s script “absolutely hilarious” when he first read it, while Oparah calls it “incredible” . The actors, both born in London, are grateful for the chance to portray a unique love story that not only highlights two black protagonists, but also pays a beautiful tribute to their hometown. “I thought South London was the [main] character was beautiful. I was very excited to see South London’s eccentricities captured on film,” notes Oparah.

“I had never read for a female character written so unapologetically messy and obsessed with fantasy.”

The local appeal of “Rye Lane” wasn’t the only draw for the acting couple. The fire-and-ice dynamics of their characters, the “unabashedly whimsical” struggling costume designer Yas and the “very apologetic” accountant Dom, also caught their eye. “I often describe Yas as a hurricane that whirls past your life and sucks you into it, and you spin with it,” explains Oparah, noting that she especially likes the “messiness” of her character. “I had never read for a female character written so unapologetically messy and obsessed with fantasy,” she says.

Meanwhile, Jonsson believes Dom is “actually all polar opposites” of his on-screen love interest, but in a way that positively contributes to the modernized story of “Rye Lane”. “I like to say Dom knows what he wants to say, he just doesn’t know how to say it,” the actor shares. “He’s struggling with how to talk and say what he means. I think he’s stuck in this cycle of life, and that’s when the beautiful Yasmin comes over and knocks him out.”

David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah in Rye Lane.

As Allen-Miller previously told POPSUGAR, the director wanted to make a movie that didn’t prescribe the “cheesy rom-com filter” she detests, where real humor can sometimes get lost in a love story. Instead, the laughs in “Rye Lane” are almost inescapable because there’s a joke at every turn – from Dom crying over his ex-girlfriend while sitting on a public toilet to Yas breaking into her ex’s apartment to get her retrieve A Tribe Called Quest file. While “Rye Lane” clearly has all the makings of a great rom-com, it still goes against the grain because, as Oparah points out, the film “breaks the conventions of [the genre] and flips it upside down.”

“I think it becomes its own thing by taking a place and putting it under a microscope, like we did with South London,” she explains. “I liken it to a sci-fi or a fantasy because there’s a lore in the mundane that Raine really, really highlighted. When you’re part of that beast, it starts to feel like something completely different.”

“People always talk about these clichés of ‘It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey,’ but the whole movie is about a journey.”

But if you still find yourself comparing “Rye Lane” to well-known classic rom-coms, the cast don’t mind — they take it as a compliment. “To make something that people think, ‘Oh, that reminds me of this,’ that’s dope,” says Jonsson. “Hopefully we do something with the genre and bend it a little bit.”

No matter how much the “Rye Lane” cast and director go back and forth over whether or not their movie should be considered a love story, they all agree that they’re glad it’s coming to fruition for audiences around the world. Despite being a British film, they hope viewers will take in some universal messages and understand how “Rye Lane” “pushes the boundaries of representation and the way we see things”. “I’d like people to just take that simple ‘there’s still love in the world’ bit and feel entertained,” Jonsson adds.

Most of all, Jonsson and his costar want audiences to know that while “Rye Lane” follows their characters’ unique romance, the film also touches on the importance of individuality and finding themselves – a theme sometimes forgotten in the rom. -com space, especially among young black people on screen. “People always talk about these clichés of ‘It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey,’ but the whole movie is about a journey,” says Oparah. “And then you see [these] two people go on their own journey, and that’s just a lesson about vulnerability. . . The truth is obviously very liberating, and I think you see that through the script. . . There’s a beauty to the truth, and maybe that’s a message that can be taken away too.”

“Rye Lane” is now streaming on Hulu.





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