From LA Times : “Why Rachel is the heart of ‘The Kissing Booth 3'”

Do you agree that Rachel is the heart of TKB3?

In the trilogy-capping Netflix rom-com “The Kissing Booth 3,” heroine Elle Evans (Joey King) has a lesson to learn: prioritize yourself in the journey to love.

But one character grasped that message early and quietly: Rachel, played by Meganne Young.

The 31-year-old South African actress reprises the role of Rachel, a thoughtful, creative student at Los Angeles Country Day High School and love interest to Elle’s best friend Lee Flynn (Joel Courtney) in the threequel, which started streaming this week.

While Elle remains the focus of “The Kissing Booth 3" — embarking on a summer mission to finish a childhood bucket list with Lee, while deciding whether or not to join boyfriend Noah (Jacob Elordi) at Harvard in the fall — Rachel’s maturity, intuitiveness and decisive pursuit of self slowly take center stage.

While Rachel is an aspiring interior designer — and the visual arts are not Young’s strong suit — she sees parallels between herself and her character, notably the strength of her reserved nature.

“I went to film school ... and people would always think I was in makeup or wardrobe because I was really quiet,” Young said recently by phone. “I was like, ‘Oh, am I supposed to be loud? Is that confidence? Is that what you need to be an actor?’ It rattled me for the first few years, but as I’ve gotten older and the more that I’ve worked on sets, I’ve become quite empowered in my quietness. I love that for Rachel, and I think that’s something that’s really similar between us.”

As a child, Young sought to be the center of attention. Her love for performing spurred her to seek out the stage, but moving from country to country shaped her understanding of the human condition. Born in Johannesburg but a “Cape Town girl” at heart, Young is a self-described “expat baby” who has lived in Nigeria, Switzerland and more, thanks to her father’s work.

“That experience made me quite adaptable and interested in other people’s perspectives and stories. I wanted to explore all these different avenues, all these different roads, and the best way I could come up with to do that was acting. If I had not been an actor, I probably would have studied psychology because I’m always interested in why people make the choices they make. I think that is so key to acting,” said Young.

Young said that she believes perspective does change when navigating different countries, cultures and practices. Those lived experiences made her attentive to societal gaps, the importance of nuance and perception beyond the black-white binary.

“Sometimes I worry that we want to boil everything down and make it simple, instead of finding that complexity, trying to understand it, embrace it and work within it. When you simplify things, that’s when you start pushing out other groups, especially minorities,” Young said. “I love complexity. I live for that. That is why I work in this industry ... but I also understand for a lot of people, it’s intimidating. I don’t think we can shy away from it if we really want to fix things.”

Her first-ever performance in front of an audience was as a student at the Grange School in Lagos, Nigeria, where she played a sugar plum fairy in a Christmas performance. Fast forward to 2018 and Young received an email from her agent: More “Kissing Booth” films were to come (the first was an unexpected Netflix hit), but the future of her character was still unknown.

When she went home to Cape Town for Christmas, she was met with a holiday surprise.

“I sat down with [director Vince Marcello and producer Michele Weisler] and they told me face to face what was going to happen with Rachel through both movies. I just was so excited,” Young said. “Something I was really taken with when I first read the script was seeing how she’s quite an even-keeled character. She doesn’t want to overstep, but she also wants to assert herself and be true to herself and her feelings.”

After Rachel and Lee locked lips in the first “Kissing Booth,” Young saw her character’s importance grow. In “The Kissing Booth 3,” Rhode Island School of Design-bound Rachel reevaluates her future with Lee after Elle and Noah’s relationship hits the rocks.

“I hate saying that love is not enough,” said Young, referencing a line from the movie. “Because I am such a romantic. But ... as you get older and you start investigating more serious relationships, you have to take in other factors. At the end of the day, you have to take care of yourself. If you aren’t happy and there’s too much strain on your relationship, for whatever reason, you need to make sure that you feel safe enough to navigate it then make decisions based on that.”

As Young navigates her career, she says a dream of hers is to play a character that seems brash, tough and “ugly” at first glance and “bring compassion into that.” Her hope is to challenge herself, tell “engaging and relatable” stories, and compel audiences to see different perspectives.

“I would love to do an action movie, to be seen so differently to what I appear as. That’s kind of the goal. It’s so easy to feel like you can look at me on paper, you can make an assumption based on all these things that you know about me. Sometimes I feel that I’ve been limited in people’s eyes. ... I think such an important part of being human is that growth, that evolution. I think you should change your mind,” Young said.

In “The Kissing Booth 3,” both Elle and Rachel are presented with choices. The question is who they’re making decisions for: themselves or to please the people around them. Young hopes that audiences take a note from Rachel and understand it’s not a mistake to look after yourself.

"[Rachel] really looks at what’s happening around her and she checks in with herself and she makes choices,” Young said. “They’re not easy choices, but she makes choices that she feels are best and will protect her. Finding that trust in yourself — I hope people take that away [from the film], and knowing that what is meant for you will come back to you. If that doesn’t come back, that means that there’s something else meant for you.”

From CVGJ.biz : “Gina Rodriguez has a great time on the set of 'Players'”

The “Jane The Virgin” star looks fabulous and overjoyed as she shoots her latest movie in The Big Apple just before her birthday!

Gina Rodriguez is filming her next romantic comedy “Players” and apparently she’s having a really great time. So we were able to see her last Tuesday, during a day of work that brought more than one smile.

Before doing some scenes jogging outdoors through a park in New York, we could see her filming with her co-star Damon Wayans Jr. Both very smiling, chatted between takes and posed for the cameras.

During one of the takes, Gina was running when she caught the attention of a handsome runner, played by the actor Tom Ellis, who couldn’t help but turn to look at her, as she walked away making funny faces, apparently dead of shame.

Then she began to celebrate with two joking friends on a park bench, roles played by actors Augustus Prew and Joel Courtney.

“Players” tells the story of a New York sportswriter named Mack (Rodriguez), who spent years devising successful dating stunts with her best friend Adam (Wayans Jr.) until she fell madly in love with one of her targets (Ellis). Now, everyone must learn the difference between playing and committing.

Gina, who created her own production company called I Can & I Will, will also be executive producer of the project.

As for her personal life, the winner of the Golden Globe is celebrating, since Today July 30, she celebrates her 37th birthday.

Happy birthday Gina Rodriguez!

From WUSA9 : “Joey King Reveals One of Her Favorite 'Kissing Booth' Scenes With One of Her Leading Men”

Joey King is reminiscing about her time on The Kissing Booth. The 21-year-old actress is saying goodbye to the Netflix movie franchise when the third and final installment premieres Aug. 11. King, who looks stunning on the cover of Glamour Mexico, opened up about one of her favorite Kissing Booth scenes with one of her many leading men.

"There are so many it's crazy, I always laughed on set. One memory that comes to mind was learning all the dance scenes with Joel [Courtney] for the first movie," she recalls. "We were so exhausted and delirious that we decided to do all of our dance choreography like we were made of jelly. Our limbs were spinning all over the place, and it was the most ridiculous but fun thing ever. One of my all-time favorite memories."

The Kissing Booth 3, meanwhile, sees King's Elle Evans deciding if she will be moving across the country with her boyfriend, Noah (Jacob Elordi), or fulfilling her lifelong promise to go to the same university as her BFF, Lee (Courtney).

From Deadline : “Joel Courtney & Crystal Reed To Star In ‘Pinball’ Film From Austin And Meredith Bragg”

EXCLUSIVE: Joel Courtney (Kissing Booth, Super 8) and Crystal Reed (Swamp Thing, Teen Wolf) have signed on to star in Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game for MPI Original Films.

The dramatic comedy produced by MPI is based on the true story of writer and pinball wizard Roger Sharpe, chronicling his journey to overturn New York City’s 35-year ban on pinball.

Austin and Meredith Bragg wrote and directed the film, which heads into production in October.

Stacey Parks, Lana Link, and Rob Pfaltzgraff will produce, with Nick Reid and Roger Sharpe on board as exec producers.

“Joel and Crystal bring so much remarkable talent and warmth to the project,” said The Bragg Brothers. “We’re thrilled to have them on board to bring Roger’s story to the screen.”

Courtney is currently in production on the Netflix film Players, starring alongside Damon Wayans Jr. and Gina Rodriguez. He’ll also soon be seen in the final film of Netflix’s The Kissing Booth trilogy, reprising his role as Lee Flynn.

The actor first burst onto the scene in J.J. Abram’s 2011 film Super 8, which had him starring opposite Elle Fanning and others. Other film and TV credits include Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, The Between, Mercy, Dear Eleanor, Sins of Our Youth, CW’s The Messengers, The Empty Man and 2019 indie, Pursued.

Reed is perhaps best known for her turn as Allison Argent in MTV’s Teen Wolf series. The actress recently played the lead role of Abby in Warner Bros. series, Swamp Thing. She also featured in Season 4 of the FBC for Warner Bros. Television series Gotham, portraying Sofia Falcone.

Reed’s other credits include Too Late, Crush, Jewtopia, Skyline, Incident in a Ghost Land and Crazy Stupid Love, in which she appeared opposite Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell.

Courtney is represented by Gersh and Authentic Talent & Literary Management. Reed is repped by ICM Partners and Silver Lining Entertainment.

From Digital Spy : “Netflix's Kissing Booth star lands next lead role”

Get ready for a film about... pinball?

Kissing Booth and Super 8 star Joel Courtney is joining Swamp Thing and Teen Wolf's Crystal Reed for a new film that's all about... pinball?!

As reported by Deadline, the pair have been signed up for Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game.

You might think 'why did pinball need saving?' Well the game was actually banned in New York for almost 25 years, because lawmakers thought that winning was random, and it was designed to make people steal money in order to carry on playing.

That is until a man named Roger Sharpe successfully fought to overturn the ban, proving in court through his sheer competency at the game that it was, in fact, skill-based. 

Writers and directors Austin and Meredith Bragg said: "Joel and Crystal bring so much remarkable talent and warmth to the project. We’re thrilled to have them on board to bring Roger’s story to the screen."

The publication reports that production on the project will begin in October. 

If they don't use 'Pinball Wizard' by The Who in the film, or at least the trailers, then we wouldn't be angry, just disappointed.

Meanwhile, the third and final Kissing Booth movie will be releasing on Netflix on August 11, which is less than two weeks away. Time to start catching up if you want to be there for the big finale.