If you thought 2018 was the year of the rom-com, just wait. Netflix announced on Friday (January 11) that Noah Centineo is starring in his third romantic comedy for the streaming platform—alongside, wait for it, Riverdale star Camila Mendes.
The movie is called The Perfect Date and, according to IMDB, it centers on a high school senior (Centineo) who launches a dating app wherein he becomes a stand-in boyfriend for people upon request. Laura Marano, who you probably know from Austin & Ally, also stars with Mendes and Centineo.
“Very Important Announcement Alert? @ncentineo will pretend to be your boyfriend this summer! Well, he will in the Netflix original movie The Perfect Date w/ @camimendes and @lauramarano,” Netflix posted to Instagram alongside two stills from the movie feature Mendes, Marano, and Centineo.
Summer isn’t that far away, right? Check out Netflix’s post for yourself, below:
Marano regrammed Netflix’s post, writing, “So excited to finally talk about this!!! See you guys in the summer.”
Netflix was largely responsible for bringing back the rom-com in 2018 with its slate of summer movies, which included The Kissing Booth,To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and Sierra Burgess Is a Loser. Centineo emerged as a breakout star from both Sierra Burgess and To All the Boys, and was quickly dubbed the Internet’s boyfriend by, well, the Internet. He’s also set to appear in the Charlie’s Angels reboot later this year, starring Kristen Stewart and directed by Elizabeth Banks.
Here’s hoping The Perfect Date is just one of many romantic comedies Netflix has in store for us this year.
It’s been a stressful year, but at least you can count on Hallmark, Lifetime, and Netflix to come through with the holiday cheer. After all, what’s more relaxing than watching an overworked woman fall in love with a Christmas tree farmer? So decompress with all of our delightful holiday content right here.
Alexa PenaVega is in the middle of filming her Hallmark Christmas movie, Christmas Made to Order (which premiered December 23), when she lets me in on a secret: Her character may dream of becoming a holiday decorator, but Alexa’s not good at it herself. “That’s [my husband] Carlos’ thing,” she says. “He has a great eye for it, and I don’t. Yet I’m the one that’s like, ‘I want Christmas all year round!'”
But what PenaVega lacks in decor skills, she more than makes up for in holiday spirit. And like her character in Christmas Made to Order, if there’s something lacking in her life she’ll find a way to change it.
PenaVega has had a lot of practice with that. In the business for more than 20 years, she started with the Burt Reynolds/Marilu Henner series Evening Shade in 1993. She followed that with roles in films like Little Giants, Nine Months, and Twister, but it was her debut in Spy Kids that made her a star. Since then, she’s done everything from Broadway to Dancing with the Stars.
Her personal life is her biggest priority now, and that’s what drew her to Hallmark. Because of the network’s commitment to families (especially for women), PenaVega has become one of its familiar faces. Christmas Made to Order marks her fourth Hallmark movie, and another one—Picture Perfect Mysteries—is already planned for 2019.
“Carlos and I want to be able to do films that our families are proud of and everybody can watch,” she says. “They just feel good, and Hallmark has been that place for us. They’re all about family, and they want to keep [me and Carlos] working together. They really do walk the walk. That’s what separates them from other networks.”
Here, PenaVega opens up more about what it’s like to do a Hallmark Christmas movie, the changes she’s noticing on-screen, and more. Read on.
Fred Hayes/Crown Media
Glamour: Are Hallmark Christmas movies everything you thought they would be and more?
Alexa PenaVega: Yes, I love Hallmark Christmas movies because they’re out-of-control awesome. There are no limits. We had 15 trees in a scene the other day, and our director asked for another one. He wasn’t kidding! You can’t go overboard. In fact, one of my first married fights with Carlos was over Christmas trees. [Laughs] I was adamant about a real tree because I’ve only had real trees. Christmas trees are my jam.
What other traditions are important to you during the holidays?
APV: This is going to be a weird thing to say, but my ex-husband’s mom is incredible—we’ve always gotten along so well. There were so many traditions from his family that she taught me, and one of them was making homemade caramels. I wrote her a couple years ago on Mother’s Day and said, “I just wanted you to know that we’ve taken this tradition into our family.” She wrote me back, “I’m crying!” There was a lot of peace in that breakup, and I love his family. Even in a difficult situation, it’s special to be able to bring beautiful family traditions that Carlos and I love and can give to our son, Ocean, as he grows up. Carlos was super positive about it. You don’t ever hear stories about stuff like that, because usually it’s “the breakup was terrible.” I took so many beautiful traditions from his family, even this amazing mustard dip that I make every year. My ex’s mom is from South Dakota, so it’s the best Midwest food. Carlos and I are Latino, so we can give you a Columbian Christmas with Midwest [traditions].
What were some of your favorite movies of the past few years? Wonder Woman? Ocean’s 8? Maybe A Simple Favor? Note how all are female-led films—and you’re not alone in loving them.
According to a new study by the Creative Arts Agency and the digital strategist shift7, the top movies from 2014 to 2017 starring women earned more than those led by their male counterparts. And this was across the board: for movies that were made for less than $10 million (indies) or for films over $100 million (blockbusters).
So what does that actually mean? That movies starring women are good for business. Plain and simple.
Of course we didn’t need a survey to tell us that. All we have to do is look at the box office, where women have been killing it. Take some of the best and buzziest of the past year. Whether it was this summer’s boundary pushing rom-com Crazy Rich Asians, the Oscar favorite A Star Is Born, or the impossibly fun Mama Mia! Here We Go Again, women dominated. And made bank.
Everett
This survey doesn’t even account for all the other places we watch movies outside of the theater, like Netflix. This summer the streaming service helped revitalize the romantic comedy genre by releasing several female-driven rom-coms, including everyone’s favorites To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Set It Up, and Sierra Burgess Is a Loser. These movies proved that people truly want to watch movies about women—no matter the platform.
Netflix
CAA’s study also found that films that passed the Bechdel test—which measures where two female characters have a conversation about something other than a man—outperformed those that failed it. But in spite of this, women accounted for only around a quarter of sole protagonists in the top 2017 films and only played about a third of major characters.
So listen up, Hollywood: Not only are women good for business—we mean business.
