From PopSugar: 

Image Source: Netflix

No one's going to deny that bad boy Noah has his charms, but if you are one of the many who preferred The Kissing Booth's Lee to his weirdly angsty older brother, then it's time to get to know Joel Courtney. There's actually an excellent chance that you're already familiar with the adorable 22-year-old who played Elle's lifelong BFF, though, even if you don't realize it. His big break came in the form of a Summer blockbuster called Super 8 way back in 2011 — you may have heard of it, since it was pretty big deal at the time.

Before everyone was raving about the cast of Stranger Things and the It kids, Hollywood was all about the young cast of Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams's Super 8. The '70s-set movie about a group of sci-fi-loving kids who stumble across an alien mystery in their hometown put Courtney on the map, and for good reason.

Image Source: Everett Collection

In his first film role, he was tasked with heading up an ensemble while also conveying the deep sense of loss his character felt in the wake of his mother's death. The actor absolutely nailed it, and his time spent as a child star has paved the way for him to take on a number of roles in projects ranging from the teen movie F*&% the Prom to dramas like The River Thief. And, of course, that all led to The Kissing Booth's Lee, your new fictional Summer crush.

From the UK's Metro:

Joel Courtney (Lee Flynn)

 

Joel Courtney will be seen next in indie flick Replicate (Picture: Getty Images)

Joel, who plays Noah’s brother Lee – who is Elle’s best friend in the Netflix hit – will be seen next in the indie movie Replicate. The film – in which Joel plays a character called Zach Henderson – centres on a group of friends making a web series in their home town, who need all the help they can get after they discover the locals are being killed and replaced by creatures that morph into the image of their victims.

Via Bloglikes:

Netflix is developing TV shows and movies at a pace that's hard to compete with, and its executives think they know exactly what you'll like. One of the best examples of this might be the streaming service's new teenage romantic comedy film, "The Kissing Booth."

"The Kissing Booth" follows a teenager named Elle Evans (Joey King), who puts her long friendship with Lee Flynn (Joel Courtney) at risk when she develops a crush on Flynn's brother Noah (Jacob Elordi).

Netflix's chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, told Vulture that the film is " one of the most-watched movies in the country, and maybe in the world." Vulture noted that Sarandos didn't offer any data to prove his comment (Netflix rarely releases audience numbers), but he did cite film database website IMDb as a "good indicator" of what audiences will want to watch.

"[IMDb is a] good indicator of what works on Netflix, because it’s a pretty net-savvy, entertainment-centric person that gives feedback," he said. "It’s better than Rotten Tomatoes.”

Sarandos said "The Kissing Booth" is the fourth movie on IMDb's popularity rankings — as of Monday, though, it had dropped to number nine. Still, top 10 isn't bad for a romcom with a relatively unknown cast that has a 17% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.

That's just further indication of the power of Netflix.

The service's original movies, such as the critically panned "Bright," have managed to fight off poor reviews and be adored by viewers. "Bright" has a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 26% but an audience score of 85%. Meanwhile, "The Kissing Booth" has a 72% audience score. On IMDb, it has a 6.5 out of 10 based on nearly 15,000 ratings. 

“Jacob Elordi is the male lead," Sarandos said of "The Kissing Booth." "Three weeks ago on the IMDb Star-o-Meter, which is how they rank their popularity, he was No. 25,000. Today he is the No. 1 star in the world. And Joey King, the female lead, went from like No. 17,000 to No. 6. This is a movie that I bet you’d never heard of until I just mentioned it to you.”

As of Monday, King and Elordi were number 7 and 8 on the list — but again, not bad.

"The Kissing Booth" isn't the first Netflix romcom to take off with viewers. Netflix's holiday movie "A Christmas Prince," another romantic comedy, was popular enough for Netflix to announce a sequel — and for dozens of people to watch the movie every day for over two weeks straight.

While Netflix's overall movie catalog has dipped in recent years, it still plans to focus on original movies. Netflix is set to release at least 80 by the end of this year in an effort to make the service more valuable to its users.

If "The Kissing Booth" is any indication, at least by Sarandos' standards, Netflix is achieving its goal.

Available on Netflix on 11 May 2018!

The trailer for my next movie, "The Kissing Booth", is out. 

Be sure to watch it on Netflix on 11 May 2018!