From Nerds of Color : “Joel Courtney Talks Netflix’s ‘The Kissing Booth 3’”

Joel Courtney plays Lee Flynn in The Kissing Booth 3, which is the third and final film in Netflix’s beloved The Kissing Booth franchise. The first film of the trilogy premiered back in 2018 and was followed by The Kissing Booth 2 in 2020. The era will come to an end on August 11.

It’s the summer before Elle heads to college, and she’s facing the hardest decision of her life: whether to move across the country with her dreamy boyfriend Noah or fulfill her lifelong promise to go to college with her BFF Lee. Whose heart will Elle break?

Along with starring in all three of The Kissing Booth films, Courtney is best known for his role in Super 8 as Joe Lamb. He starred in Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, Sins of Our Youth, and The Between as well as appeared in Mercy and Dear Eleanor. The actor also claimed the lead role in The Messengers for the CW.

Other notable credits include Pursued, The Empty Man, Rogue, R.L. Stine’s the Haunting Hour, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The River Thief, F*&% the Prom, and Assimilate.

I spoke with the actor about bringing Lee’s story to a close, The Kissing Booth franchise, Lee’s friendship with Elle, and what his tagline for the trilogy would be! Watch my interview below to hear all of his answers.

Netflix Publicity Photos for "The Kissing Booth 3"

Looking back! Joey King and Joel Courtney have nothing but amazing memories together from The Kissing Booth 3 set. The duo, who play Elle and Lee in the Netflix film franchise, are “so close” both on and off screen.

“Truly, every day with Joel was belly-laughs to the point where I’d be like, ‘I’m gonna pee.’ So, it’s hard to pinpoint any specific moment, but just being his friend is a constant flow of laughter,” Joey gushes to J-14 exclusively ahead of the final film’s premiere. “He makes everyone he’s around so happy. I just feel really lucky to have shared all those laughs with him and that people can see that we really care about each other.”

Just like his costar, Joel was unable to recall one specific funny moment on The Kissing Booth 3 set because there were “so many” hilarious memories.

“I just remember laughing,” he says. “That’s the one clear memory that I take away is just I laughed every day with Joey.”

The dynamic duo’s epic friendship definitely shows through as they wrap up the fan-favorite franchise, which started when the first movie premiered in May 2018. The three films follow the story of Elle, her best friend Lee and his older brother, Noah (played by Jacob Elordi). After Elle and Noah fall in love, the teenager must figure out how to balance life with her best friend and now boyfriend. As fans know, The Kissing Booth 3 will tell the story of Elle and Lee as they get ready for their last summer together before college. While Elle makes the big decision of which college she’s going to attend, she and Lee complete items on their ultimate Beach Bucket List.

“I have to say one of the [scenes] we worked the hardest for, and we had so much fun doing was the flash mob,” Joey teases to J-14. “I can’t believe we pulled that off. It was amazing.”

Joel, for his part, loved filming the “Race Day” bucket list item.

“The Go-Karts! Our costumes were just insane,” he shares. “Getting to drive Go-Karts all day is like a childhood dream come true for me. I love Go-Karting and getting to throw balloons and silly string, it’s just so crazy. It’s one of those things no one does, like you don’t get to do that. It was just a really, really awesome memory.”

Netflix Publicity Photos for "The Kissing Booth 3"

Spoilers ahead! Joel Courtney chats with ET’s Matt Cohen about the end of the ‘The Kissing Booth’ franchise, which jumps ahead six years to reveal where the beloved characters end up after college. Joel reacts to his character, Lee, winding up with his high school sweetheart Rachel, and weighs in on whether he thinks Elle (Joey King) and Noah (Jacob Elordi) really ride off into the sunset together. Plus, he shares a message to fans about the end of this era, and offers up his ideas for a potential sequel down the line. ‘The Kissing Booth 3’ is now streaming on Netflix.