Director Richard Curtis is best known for his beloved 2003 movie Love Actually, as well as classics like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Bridget Jones’s Diary. We’re thinking maybe Kate Middleton really loves those movies too, because for some reason she was hanging out with Curtis this week and discussing a new secret project.
According to the Daily Mail, the two of them met on Wednesday, September 11, during an unannounced private visit. The only thing reports revealed is that “the Cambridges are contributing to a project Curtis is working on.” Per the Daily Mail, this project is about mental health.
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If that’s true, it makes sense that Curtis would want to get the Cambridges in the mix. They’ve shown their dedication to mental wellness a few times now, and in 2016 they kicked off the Heads Together project to support discussions and openness around mental health. Curtis himself has been an advocate and has spoken about the subject a few times.
Interestingly, if the Daily Mail sources are accurate, only Middleton met with Curtis. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is that maybe Curtis is making a movie and planning to put her in it. But this could be part of a larger evolution Middleton has been undergoing. People magazine recently spoke to several sources who talked about how Middleton is slowly but surely getting ready to be queen and confidently carrying out more responsibilities.
“She is an adoring mother, and she is contributing publicly in the way we would want her to. You see it more and more. The young student has turned into our future Queen,” a source said. Maybe her meeting with Curtis is just the latest example of how she’s coming into her own. Either way, we can’t wait to hear more about the project.
Isn’t It Romantic, the highly anticipated rom-com parody starring Rebel Wilson, Priyanka Chopra, and Liam Hemsworth, hits theaters today. It centers on Natalie (Wilson), a woman who finds herself trapped inside a romantic comedy—and all the cringe-y tropes that come with it. You know exactly what we’re talking about: In this alternate universe, Natalie has an apartment far too expensive for a twenty-something, a gay best friend who is there just to help move the plot along, and a love interest so hot nothing else matters.
But don’t mistake Isn’t It Romantic for the rom-coms of 2003. The brains behind this movie are acutely aware these tropes exist—that’s why they included them. The director (Todd Strauss-Schulson) and screenwriters (Erin Cardillo, Dana Fox, and Katie Silberman) actually subvert stereotypes in Isn’t It Romantic and, as a result, bring the genre into 2019.
Of course, this required some research, but Strauss-Schulson, Cardillo, Fox, and Silberman soon became experts in romantic-comedy tropes. Below, they tell us which ones they enjoy—and which ones they were most excited to poke fun at—in Isn’t It Romantic.
Todd Strauss-Schulson, director:
Before I got on set to direct Isn’t it Romantic, I watched 80 romantic comedies in a row. I went a little insane, but my heart grew more and more tender by the day. Obviously, I’d seen romantic comedies before, but I wanted to become an expert. The idea was to crack the code and see what story and visual tropes were used over and over again.
I wanted to break the rom-com genome and isolate the textures and tropes so I could rebuild them into something modern and fresh for our movie. I found a lot of weird stuff beyond the well-known “gay best friend who has no purpose in life but to care for the main character” and “trying on clothes montage” tropes. For instance, did you know there is a lot of shellfish eaten in romantic comedies? It’s true, but why? Maybe because shellfish is an aphrodisiac? Who knows, but it’s in a lot of ’em.
One of the most consistent visual tropes—and when I say consistent, I mean I was straight up spooked when I kept seeing it repeat in every movie—was half-moon windows. Like this:
So I did a little deep dive, and I found two interesting potential answers. First, half-moon windows are also referred to as lunettes, and Merriam-Webster says there is some evidence of the word being used for a “little moon.” (Though that meaning is now obsolete.) The moon is often associated with having a deep connection with women, and so it makes sense they would be subliminally placed all over this particular genre.
In tarot, arches symbolize beginnings, initiations, and ceremonies of renewal. Walking through an archway represents the sloughing off of the old and moving into a new phase of life. That sounds a lot like a rom-com plot to me! These characters are opening up to love, getting out of their comfort zone…and maybe even getting married.
Moons have cycles—and so do genres. Rom-coms are coming back, and we hope Isn’t It Romantic becomes one of your new favorites.
Erin Cardillo, screenwriter:
My favorite rom-com trope is The Realize and Run. As in, when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. (Thank you, Harry. See: Nora Ephron.) Back before cell phones existed, this trope made sense. You suddenly realize you’re in love with somebody—after being a dingbat about it for the better part of the movie—but you can’t call them to tell them because landlines are stupid. Plus, they aren’t home. In fact, your somebody is probably at the airport having just passed through security, ready to board that flight to “I’m never coming back, and you can’t track me down.” Or, in most cases, they are in a nondenominational church about to marry the wrong person and they’re totally against annulment.
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So you must run. Fast! Cars are just as stupid as phones. Luckily, you don’t have a bad back—or if you do, it was designed that way for comedic effect. Nevertheless, you can run, and you are capable of traversing whatever absurd obstacles are in your path. You have to do this! This is the closest thing to an action sequence the audience is going to get in most rom-coms, and it’s essential to get them reinvested in your happy ending before your big, perfect “I love you” speech. A speech that, while often flawed and totally clichéd, is, after your epic run, still pretty freakin’ satisfying.
Immediately after I left the screening of Mindy Kaling‘s upcoming film, Late Night, at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, I texted a friend a glowing, all-caps review: “I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE IT AGAIN.”
For one, it’s an incredibly enjoyable film to watch, the kind of story you want to lose yourself in after a bad day. Kaling wrote (and produced) the film for Emma Thompson, who plays a witty, glamorous, sometimes terrifying talk show host. Kaling’s character joins her writing staff as a diversity hire, but what follows is a refreshing—and, yes, hilarious—movie about mentorship, equality in the workplace, and the value of hard work.
“It’s really easy to slip into a place when you start out in your career where you’re like, I’m just trying to get my foot in the door and I only want to help myself. I’m scared to help anybody else,” Kaling explained at a Sundance Film Festival panel hosted by Stella Artois and Deadline. “And then, as you become more successful, you realize it behoves you to [help others]. The movie is so much about women helping other women, about mentorship and learning how to become a mentor.”
Phillip Faraone
Behind the camera, Kaling and her fellow producers put that into real action by hiring a female director, Nisha Ganatra, and creating a gender-balanced set. The film has even earned the ReFrame Stamp, a mark of distinction formed by Women in Film and the Sundance Institute for projects that have female-identifying people in four out of eight key areas of production.
That’s not the only impressive stat about Late Night, either. Following its Sundance premiere, the movie was purchased by Amazon for a whopping $13 million—a record for the festival at the time, and proof that there is money to be made for female-led productions. So, I sat down with Ganatra after the panel to learn more.
Late Night was purchased by Amazon in a record-breaking deal. What does that mean for you—and for female directors? It’s major.
Nisha Ganatra: I think this movie setting a record at Sundance is so important because the leads are a woman over the age of 50 and a woman of color. That, sadly, is radical alone, but there was so much talk of, “Oh my God, will this make money? Is this marketable? Who will go see this?” The fact that this movie broke the record at Sundance is so significant and so exciting and so amazing because it validates that you can tell your story. You can tell the story that people don’t think is worth telling, and it will find its audience and people will reward you for it.
You were pregnant while you filmed this movie, and during the Stella Artois & Deadline Sundance Series Late Night panel you joked that you wore big sweaters so nobody would worry. I was struck by that—Mindy Kaling has a young child, and this movie has the ReFrame Stamp for gender parity. It’s obviously a female-friendly workplace, so I’m curious why you felt that way?
NG: Well, our culture still treats pregnant women like they are fragile things, and that is not true or fair at all. For me, it was more…as a director, I’m very nurturing and I feel very protective of the cast. I didn’t want them to look at me and think, oh have a seat! Have some water! I wanted them to feel like they could go head-to-head with me and not have to worry about my fragile state of pregnancy.
Patty Jenkins and Chris Pine are supposed to be exhausted. They’ve been promoting their new series, TNT’s I Am the Night (Pine stars and executive produces; Jenkins directs), nonstop and have just taken the red-eye to Los Angeles from New York. But when I sit down with them, they’re just as sharp as if it were their first interview about the show. In fact, when a publicist tries to wrap us up, Pine graciously asks for more time so he and Jenkins can finish answering my questions. Talk about dedication!
The two first met when Jenkins recruited Pine for Wonder Woman (he originally passed on the role before Jenkins was attached to the project), and it was pretty much obsession at first sight. Millions of dollars at the box office later, they’ve not only teamed up for Wonder Woman 2 but also I Am the Night, which takes on a new angle in the Black Dahlia case.
But no matter how much success Jenkins has achieved (just one example: Wonder Woman is the highest grossing live-action film directed by a woman), she admits that people still have trouble seeing her as a director. “Somehow the association of being a director and being a woman is something people have some weird thing about,” she says. In fact, Jenkins admits even her extended family gets tripped up by it.
So at a time when more women are starting to call the shots behind the camera—and certainly more attention is on Hollywood to do its part—what’s still so foreign about it? Here, Jenkins and Pine share their thoughts on that and more. Read on.
Glamour: Do you remember the first time you met? And what were your first impressions of each other?
Chris Pine: Oh yeah! Wonder Woman was [originally going to be] directed by someone else and I had this great meeting with this other person about it but [the character] really didn’t sound interesting to me and I had other stuff going on, so I kinda wasn’t into it. It came around again and Patty was involved, and I wanted to meet her, but I didn’t know if [the movie] sounded like my thing. But within five minutes of meeting Patty at this restaurant, I knew almost immediately that I’d be doing this film.
Wow. How so?
Chris: I think she spent, like, an hour acting out the entire film of Wonder Woman in this restaurant bar at like noon on a Tuesday. I was completely captivated and I just knew pretty much immediately even though there was only 20 pages of a script. I was just really into Patty and I thought that she understood the qualities that I could bring to it and that was it.
Patty, did you know this?
Patty Jenkins: He had told me that he [was on the fence at first] and then I was super psyched that changed because I was like, ‘This is fucking happening!’ I was like, ‘I’m not coming out of that meeting with a no. Chris has to do it. It has to be Chris.’ The funny thing was, as I signed on to it, the importance of who played that role was tremendous. We needed an incredibly powerful dynamic, funny, rich actor, and that person was Chris.
Patty Jenkins, Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), and Chris Pine
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Even though you wanted him to play the part, what was it like when you first met him?
Patty: It’s funny, because when it’s a famous actor you already know so much more about them. But he was chiller and even more fun to talk to [than I could have imagined]. We stayed for a long time at the restaurant just talking and laughing and having a great time. And then when we started working together, I remember thinking, “Wow, you are just so fucking incredibly skilled.”
If you’re a regular viewer of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, there’s a good chance the name Ken Fuchs rings a bell. As director of the show, he estimates he’s overseen at least 350 episodes of the franchise and counting. “I did the math once, and I counted all the roses I’ve seen handed out, and it was an obscene number,” he says. “But I don’t remember that now. I’ll have to go back and figure it out.”
We can forgive Fuchs—who also works on Shark Tank, Family Feud, and Deal or No Deal—for not knowing his final rose count. After all, there are more pressing matters to keep track of each week. From following all the drama in the house to packing up and moving locations every week, Fuchs is lucky if he knows what time zone he’s in. “Think about a traveling carnival, and that’s us,” he says. “Everything you’re watching, we’re either in the next room or a few rooms over.” For Fuchs and his technical department, sometimes that means building a makeshift a tent in Bali that can keep the equipment cool, or finding a way to get cables to the 50th floor of a skyscraper. “The team is tremendous because it’s such an undertaking. From the art department to the lighting department, we work closely together just to figure out how to make the show.”
After nearly 17 years on the air, it’s safe to say they’ve more than figured it out. And now, with season 23 of The Bachelor about to premiere (January 7 on ABC), Fuchs is opening up about some of those production secrets and more. Read on.
Glamour: How often are you actually in contact with the contestants?
Ken Fuchs: It really depends on if I need to communicate something or if I need to reach somebody that I can’t reach from afar, because I’d rather not be [on set]. The more we can do that, the better for the content of the show, so we really make an effort of staying in the background. Obviously the cameramen are there, but I try to stay away because we want them as much as possible to forget the cameras are there. Every time they see me, it’s like, ‘Uh-oh.’ It’s a little bit like when they see [Chris] Harrison…something’s up. Sometimes I come through the kitchen and steal some of their appetizers, but that’s about it. However, the lead Bachelor or Bachelorette for that season, I’ll get to know because I’ll see him or her everyday. Every now and then we’ll give them television instruction, but it’s very, very minimal and we try to keep it that way.
PHOTO: Ken Fuchs
During a rose ceremony, it takes forever for the Bachelor or Bachelorette to announce each person’s name. Is that just editing, or are you instructing them via an earpiece when to call out names?
KF: I can tell you one thing: Yes, we’re making a TV show, so there is some of that [suspense we want to create]. No, the person never wears an earpiece themselves. They’re not driven in that way at all. There are occasions where we’ll cue them to do something or we might have to wait to do something, but it’s as simple as a camera has to change its battery or sometimes it’s a mundane reason. It’s not like we’re purposely extending it. We may have called two names back-to-back and in editing we can open up the time it takes for dramatic purposes. So, again, a huge credit to our post [production] department. That’s where all of that is created, and I’m sort of involved in that a little bit, but not terribly much so.
You’re basically saying they’re not counting, ‘One Mississippi, two Mississippi…’
KF: No, no. [Laughs] I know it must feel that way for sure and there is a little bit of a television contrivance, but no, it’s never that way. Also, we don’t want the Bachelor or Bachelorette thinking about us as they are holding a rose [deciding who to give it to]. We want them thinking about the faces in front of them and the emotions that they’re feeling. That’s the most important thing. And I can promise you all the music is added in post [production].
As the director of the show, which past Bachelor or Bachelorette did you find most captivating?
KF: Oh boy…I think Ben Higgins was very captivating. There’s something so earnest and sweet about him that really I think captured people’s imaginations. I think you root for all of them along the way, but some of them have been more divisive. There’s been years where people have questioned our decision. I’m not on the inside of that decision-making process, but in general I think our casting has been great. The suitors that show up for night one are always fascinating and crazy and weird and fun. So I think it’s a good mix.
Two recent ‘characters’ that come to mind are Jordan Kimball from Becca’s season and Krystal Nielson from Arie’s season. What intrigued you about them?
KF: There are so many great ‘characters,’ like Bekah Martinez. I’m always looking for great reactors and people who can be in the scene and not always talking, but reacting and listening. In other words, just engaged in the process, whether they are goofballs or serious or nice girls or mean girls…really just listening and being a participant in the process. If it leads them into strange territory, then that’s up to them—and all the better for the show. It really runs the gamut of emotions.
You make a great point about Bekah Martinez, because her expressions were priceless.
KF: Right. Right. And truth is stranger than fiction. Things come out of their mouth, and we sit around and say, “We couldn’t possibly write that. No one would believe it.” It would be too farcical for us to have a character say those lines, but here they come! Comes right out of their brain, out their mouth, and God bless ‘em.
PHOTO: ABC
The show has changed a lot since those early days in the beginning. Anything you miss about those times?
KF: I do cherish those early years because we were such a close-knit family, and now it’s quite a juggernaut. We’re going to sometimes six different countries on two or three different continents, and that requires an army of production. We have a few more cameras and audio and lighting. Things have grown a little bit more, but even for a fairly big group, it’s still pretty small. But there were some great friends and people those first few years and figuring it out together and being in the trenches together. A highlight was Trista and Ryan’s wedding; I’ll never forget that.
Is there a location that you’d love to visit again?
KF: I’d love to go back to New Zealand. And I think about Cape Town, South Africa a lot.
Do you have kids, or nieces or nephews, and if so, would you let them go on the show?
KF: I have three sons. People always say, ‘If you had a daughter would you let her be on the show?’ but I have three boys in their 20s, and I’m having a little baby girl after all these years. So I’m really excited about that. In 18 or 20 years, I don’t know if she’ll be allowed to watch the show.
Would you let your sons go on the show?
KF: Yeah, maybe it’s a double standard in that I think I would. I see a lot of good things on this show. I see a lot of camaraderie, a lot of friendships made, a lot of self-exploration, and I see [these guys] asking questions and figuring things out about themselves. It’s really a beautiful thing. So I think if you’re outgoing and an up-for-anything type of person, I would say it’s a great experience.
Is there a piece of advice that you wish you could give these contestants? Even if their mistakes make for good TV, what would your one piece of advice be to them?
KF: You have to really, really bring your true self, because that’s the only way you’re going to stick around. If you become friends with the rest of the house, then your focus really isn’t where it should be. It’s a balance. I think some of the guys on The Bachelorette can’t figure out that balance quick enough and just fall behind.
PHOTO: Paul Hebert / ABC
Like poor Grocery Store Joe.
KF: Yeah, yeah, right. And then there are guys that go to the other extreme and are like, ‘I’m here for her, I’m here for her, I’m here for her,’ and they make no effort to just be a regular guy. You don’t have to make best friends, but you might as well make friends since you’re going to be living and traveling with them hopefully.
Finally, with all the time you spend on set, do you ever bring home extra roses to your wife?
KF: Oh man, I tried that early on. I don’t know, not all women like leftover roses. They’re a little cheesy. But on our studio [reunion or tell all] shows, where we have roses everywhere, sometimes an arrangement will wind up in my car. I’m not too proud. Yeah, free is me. [Laughs]
The new season of The Bachelor premieres on ABC on Monday, January 7.
Ariana Grande first met music video director Hannah Lux Davis in 2014 on the set for the “Bang Bang” music video. Grande, Nicki Minaj, and Jessie J, who all collaborated on the smash, had decided to hire a female director, and Minaj (who’d worked with Davis before) knew Davis was the exact woman for the job.
Grande has collaborated with Davis ever since—partnering with her on such iconic works of art as the visuals for her Dangerous Woman tour and her most recent internet-breaking, instant-hit video, “Thank U, Next.”
In that time, Davis has watched Grande grow into a fearless performer, but she still remembers her at the start of her career, when she was greener, but full of potential.
“She was kind of shy,” Davis tells Glamour, recalling the “Bang Bang” set. “Her eye contact to camera wasn’t as fierce as it is today, but I remember being like, ‘Gosh. She’s so good when she connects to camera.’ She’s just gotten so much more confident over the years, and it’s been so fun to watch.”
Davis hasn’t just been with Grande for her professional achievements—she’s seen her deal with personal highs and lows. Over time, the women have built up a trust and a bond that’s obvious in their collaborations. Take this latest video, for example. “With ‘Thank U, Next,’ I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’ve known you with all of these guys!'” Davis exclaims. “I never met Pete, but I knew her then, and I remember the Ricky phase, the Sean phase, and Mac. I was there with her for all of them! It’s cool to be somebody who’s been with her on the journey of growing up and learning and finding herself, and that’s what the song is about.”
Less than 24 hours after its premiere, “Thank U, Next” already has 47 million views. Glamour spoke with Davis about the viral response to the video, her creative process with Grande, and of course, the Burn Book.
GLAMOUR: You’ve worked on a lot of huge music videos with artists like Nicki Minaj, Demi Lovato, and of course, Ariana, but what is it about “Thank U, Next” that is resonating with viewers in a way we’ve never seen before?
HANNAH LUX DAVIS: Well I think all eyes are on Ariana right now, and it’s such a personal and relatable song. In terms of the video, it hits a lot of notes of nostalgia, which brings in different audiences. It’s not just her younger fans, but also people who love the movies [we recreated], who might not at first be Ariana fans, but still want to tune in. But [the reaction] definitely feels really different and exciting. Ariana and I have been FaceTiming all day—she loves to FaceTime, she’ll never do a phone call or a voicemail, just a FaceTime—and she was just like, “oh my god.” We’ve been sitting on the phone just staring at each other going, “Oh my god, oh my god,” a million times back and forth, because that’s how it feels.
GLAMOUR: I read an interview you did with Billboard about your creative process with Ariana. Like how when you were working on the “Side to Side” video she came to you and said, “Let’s do something with spin bikes,” and you just took it from there. What vision did she come to you with, this time?
HLD: We were working on “Breathin” in New York, and I came over to her place and we were sitting on the floor in the living room with dogs and animals everywhere, even Piggy Smalls, who’s so cute. He’s like an old man girl, because she smells and feels like an old man, but is a lady. So we’re sitting on the floor and she was like I want to play you my new song, which was “Thank U, Next.” I was in total shock because I was like, “Oh my god she’s listing names.”
We narrowed it down to films that had the same common thread of a strong female lead, who went through a breakup, and came out on the other side a more empowered, strong, version of themselves.
Then we were talking about a video and she was like, “What about Mean Girls and a Burn Book? But instead of a Burn Book it’s a “Thank U, Next” book and I write all these things I’m thankful for in the Burn Book about the guys?” So right away you’re like, “Yeah, that’s it.” Then we went down a rabbit hole of that genre and that time and era and then we were like what if we did Legally Blonde? We just started listing movies and we were like, “We have to do Bring It On and 13 Going on 30.” Then we had to cool it and were like ok, four movies. Let’s do four.
We narrowed it down really organically to films that had the same common thread of a strong female lead, who went through a breakup, and came out on the other side a more empowered, strong, version of themselves—which is very much true to what the song was about. Like with Elle Woods, her ex-boyfriend lead her to Harvard, where she found her passion. She’s obviously grateful for her ex! So we focused on these situations that push characters into positions that are uncomfortable, but they realize they can do it and that’s a great message for young girls.
GLAMOUR: Another fun thing about this video is that it was an epic reunion. You and Ariana got to work together again, Jennifer Coolidge was able to reprise her iconic role as Paulette in Legally Blonde, and the cast of Victorious to came together for the first time in years. It just seemed like the best time. But what was it actually like on set?
HLD: She had a lot of her friends and former cast mates from other shows and any time somebody got to set and were in wardrobe they were just like, “Oh my god can you believe we’re doing it?” Ariana was like, “This is a coolest thing being a pop star has ever allowed me to do. To bring all these people together, all of these ideas together and to actually pull it off and do it justice.” [My favorite] behind the scenes moments were when Ariana would take a moment and just geek out over reenacting these scenes and getting to put a 2018 spin on it.
GLAMOUR: Speaking of cameos, the internet’s favorite one is far and away Kris Jenner. How did you get her to play the most epic amateur momager of all time?
HLD: So good, right? If you don’t use Amy Poehler, or Joan Grande herself, it’s gotta be Kris Jenner. It was Ariana’s idea to include her. They’re friends, so Ariana reached out and Kris was interested. It was a fast process to get her on board. On set she didn’t take herself too seriously and just got right in there and got into character so effortlessly. It was so funny because we’re doing all these ad libs with her and I was like, “No this is actually you! You are this person.” We had a few different Juicy sweatsuit options and we wanted to make sure it was just right. We had more than five so we could find the perfect one for her, and we found the right vibe.
GLAMOUR: So the Burn Book was the initial conceit of the video. How much of it did you have planned out? Did you and Ariana talk about what she’d write about each guy ahead of time?
HLD: She knew that she wanted to keep it positive, fun, and tongue-in-cheek. She was like, “Oh my god I should totally be like, ‘could still get it’ for Sean.” She kind of had some of these premeditated; like for Pete, writing, “huuuuuuge.” The one that came out as we were filming was the “sorry I dipped.” We were rolling and she was writing in the book, and we had to have her write multiple pages because we had to do multiple takes, but on that last take, she wrote “sry I dipped.” It was just like, gold. It was so real! She was so honest and that’s what makes it so fun.
GLAMOUR: Speaking of “huuuuuge” there were a lot of awesome Easter eggs in the video, including the references to “BDE” (Big Dick Energy) like on the logo of the UPS guy’s uniform, in the Legally Blonde homage! How did you decide to reference Pete’s uh, “size,” in this video?
HLD: I love that you saw that! I don’t want to tell people the Easter eggs, I want them to find them. But as for the uniform, [the actor] was actually wearing a UPS logo on the uniform, and we had to change it in post. Which is so fun because we get to go back and change things and that idea was all her, [to write BDE as the logo instead of UPS on the uniform]. We didn’t want [the guys] to be mad about anything so we were like let’s keep it fun, so if they see it they’d be like, yeah, that’s cool.
GLAMOUR: Pete certainly can’t get mad about this one!
