ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with People We Meet on Vacation stars Emily Bader and Tom Blyth about the hit rom-com. The duo discussed their big kiss, filming on a nude beach, and more. The romance movie is now streaming on Netflix.

“Free-spirited Poppy and routine-loving Alex have been unlikely best friends for a decade, living in different cities but spending every summer vacation together. The careful balance of their friendship is put to the test when they begin to question what has been obvious to everyone else — could they actually be the perfect romantic match?” says the official synopsis.

Tyler Treese: Emily, the director mentioned that when they recreated the book cover, they filmed on a nude beach. How was that experience? I’m sure that was a first.

Emily Bader: It was kind of fascinating because normally on a nude beach, I feel like you’d be nude, step one. So we failed that. But also, I would avert my eyes, you know. But the thing is, because we were filming, so obviously it was all these nude people with their arms crossed, standing behind camera just staring at us. So it was hard not to feel their presence. It was fun.

Tom Blyth: It’s so Spanish.

Bader: It’s so Spanish.

Tom, I love the relationship in this movie, and the two don’t mesh at all at first. It’s very fun getting to see the relationship change over time with each vacation. How did you approach that relationship, having so many ups and downs, because we see the relationship at so many points? How is it factoring that in as an actor?

Blyth: Yeah, I think that’s what’s exciting about their relationship. That’s the thing that I kind of locked into a little bit, was they are each other’s kind of kryptonite a little bit. And yet each other’s like catnip as well. And I think that it’s like life, isn’t it? Oftentimes, even if you’re in a relationship, that person is your best friend. And also, like, sometimes the person you can’t stand.

It’s that up and down that is so exciting. But ultimately, when you know someone that well, you take them for the ups and the downs, and it’s beautiful. And so I think, yeah, let, just allowing Alex to fall in love with her slowly and kind of… There are little moments where she would do something funny or cute, and she breaks through his wall. And then just kind of allowing that to affect me and allowing him to kind of soften. It was really nice to play someone who was kind of being softened by someone in real time.

I never do this, but I was actually screaming at my TV like, “Come on, you guys love each other. Let’s just do this.” It was painful watching these two avoid each other for so long.

Emily, I did want to ask about when they finally get together, because it really feels like this huge payoff where it’s been like nine years of anticipation. How is it just making that feel like a big deal? Because it came off incredibly in the film.

Emily Bader: I mean, I think that is the crux of this entire movie. It was something that’s really key in the book that we knew we had to get right, which hopefully we did. I’m glad that you think so. But yeah, when I first saw the cut, I was kind of like gripping my armchair, waiting for that moment being like, “All right, did we pull this off?” Does it feel like we built the tension enough to that point where the release of it is sort of worth it? And I think it’s so fun as a viewer and a fan of this genre to have that moment kind of work out.

Tom, I think my favorite vacation in the film was New Orleans, and that’s because of the awesome dance moves that you show off. How was it filming that dance sequence? Because it’s a trip.

Tom Blyth: It was fun, honestly. It was fun. I was a bit nervous. I think you were nervous, too. You were very nervous.

Bader: Yep.

Blyth: I was somewhat nervous. I like a little dance, but I’m also not very good at choreographed dance.

Bader: I think we remembered remarkably well for how little I think we rehearsed it twice.

Blyth: Twice, yeah.

Bader: We didn’t completely mess up continuity, which is good.

Blyth: No. But also, it was a weird thing because we had to rehearse a dance and kind of come up with something because of continuity, but at the same time, it had to not look rehearsed, and it had to look like two people who were doing it on the fly. So, that was a fine balance to strike. I think we got there in the end.

Thanks to Emily Bader and Tom Blyth for taking the time to talk about People We Meet on Vacation.