(L to R) Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose star in ‘Love Hurts’.
Opening in theaters on February 7th is the new romantic action comedy ‘Love Hurts’, which was directed by stunt coordinator Jonathan Eusebio (‘Deadpool 2’) and stars Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan (‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’) and Ariana DeBose (‘West Side Story’).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of sitting down in-person with Academy Award winners Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose to talk about their work on ‘Love Hurts’, their first reactions to the screenplay and their characters, working together, the action sequences, collaborating with director Jonathan Eusebio, and if the movie is a love story or a revenge film.
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Ke Huy Quan as Marvin Gable in ‘Love Hurts’, directed by Jonathan Eusebio. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Moviefone: To begin with, Ke, what was your first reaction to the screenplay, and did you recognize right away that this would be a perfect role for you to play?
Ke Huy Quan: No. When I read the script, I liked the script, but I just couldn’t see myself as Marvin Gable. I think it’s because over the years I was never offered the leading role. I’m so accustomed to forgetting about getting the job and auditioning for minor characters. I think because it’s been like that for so long, in some ways I’ve been conditioned to think that I’m not deserving to be number one on the card. So, when I read this, I couldn’t connect to it. I couldn’t see myself as Marvin Gable, and the producers, 87 North, they were very persistent, and I was so confused, and I reached out to my favorite filmmaker, (Steven) Spielberg, and he was so gracious with his time. I told him about the story, I told him that they offered me the lead, and this is a Universal Studios picture. I said, “What do you think? Should I do this?” Very quickly he said, “Ke, this is incredible. You should do this.” Suddenly, I’m like, “Oh wow, he thinks I’m perfect for this.” Then I went in and met with our creative team, and through that conversation I realized that one, they were trying to create a different kind of action hero, because I’m so accustomed to seeing movies with (Arnold) Schwarzenegger and (Sylvester) Stallone and Jason Statham. They don’t look like me, but they were trying to change the status quo with a new kind of action hero that looks like me, that doesn’t look lethal at all until you mess with him, and then you really find out how badass he is. Immediately I was just fascinated, and I began to change my own internal narrative. Now I’m beginning to say, “Oh, I can be the action hero. I can be the number one,” and that is what’s so thrilling about this entire process, this entire production. That’s incredible.
MF: Ariana, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and what excited you about playing this character?
Ariana DeBose: Oh, I thought it was a very ambitious little piece. It’s doing many things. There’s a romantic heart to it. It is a full-fledged action flick, but there’re brotherly love. It’s sewing this very fine seam together. It was doing a lot. Then at the heart of it, the backbone of the film was this woman, Rose, who without her you don’t have central conflict in a way. It felt like she was unapologetically just flipping the table and then asking questions later. It’s like she planned up until a certain point and then she’s like, “Whoa, let’s see what happens.” I loved that because I think there comes a point in everyone’s life where they must do that. It’s like a radical acceptance of the unknown and then fly by instinct and see where things fall. I really loved that about her.
Ariana DeBose as Rose Carlisle in ‘Love Hurts’, directed by Jonathan Eusebio. Photo: Universal Pictures.
MF: Ariana, do you think the movie is a love story or a revenge film, or both?
AD: Both, really. I think there are characters who start out with what they would call a revenge plan and it turns into something else. There’s always something underneath revenge. It’s never one color. It makes it fun as an actor. I look at it as painting. I talk about dance in color too, but acting is also about color. I’m never drawn to a character that is just one color. I don’t really know what to do with that because as people, we have so many multitudes within us. So, for me, those are the characters that I feel very strongly drawn to.
MF: Ariana, director Jonathan Eusebio has a background in fight coordinating, what was it like working with him on the action sequences?
AD: Oh, it was so, so fun. Again, the impetus of all of this was just fun. I remember sitting down with JoJo when we met about the film and he was like, “Are you open to it?” I was like, “I want to do everything that I can myself.” I had a great stunt double, Aisha (Hussain), who was there if something went wrong or if there was something that perhaps I wasn’t equipped to do. I’m very quick to be like, “Nope, that’s not in my wheelhouse. Safety first.” But they’re pretty much most of the things you see in the film, I was able to do myself. In fact, I learned how to drive a Trans-Am. I drove a stick. I learned how to do it in an hour. I’m very proud of that because driving a stick is hard. Yes, I’m a millennial, don’t judge me, but it’s hard. But the fight sequences were an extension of dance for me. I took to this work, this genre in a way that I don’t know that I have had before in some other types of genre films that I’ve explored. So, this one was fun. It was great. We couldn’t do any of it without our incredible stunt team. Every single member. It was just like a big family.
(L to R) Marvin Gable (Ke Huy Quan) and Rose Carlisle (Ariana DeBose) in ‘Love Hurts’, directed by Jonathan Eusebio. Photo: Universal Pictures.
MF: Ariana, you presented Ke Huy Quan with his Oscar when he won Best Supporting Actor for ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’. What was it like to finally work with him on this movie?
AD: Oh, I can tell you, it’s so nice to watch someone through an award season, have a moment like that and then be on set and feel affirmed in all the things that you thought. He’s everything that you think he is. I think we both grew so much on this film. We both got to express different parts of our talent that I don’t know that audiences had been able to see thus far. We worked from a space of real mutual admiration and partnership. I think that’s why we have the film we have regarding the two characters and their connection. But we had a really good time. It was nothing but fun. It’s a feat to get any movie made. It could be hard, but it’s such a rewarding thing when you get to do it with someone you really enjoy and admire.
MF: Finally, Ke, what was it like for you to have an opportunity to work with Ariana on this movie after she presented you with your Academy Award?
KHQ: Come on. When she opened the envelope and announced my name with so much emotion, I was so touched, and I loved her. Since then, when I see her, I always go up and give her a big hug and I say, “Oh, come on, let’s do a movie together.” So, when this came and her name was mentioned for Rose, I immediately said, “Yes, yes, it’s got to be her. Please reach out and give her anything she wants so she says yes.” Of course, we had an incredible time, and I could not have asked for a better partner. Now I see this movie, and I’m so proud of what we have made.
“You can’t break up with your past.”
A realtor is pulled back into the life he left behind after his former partner-in-crime resurfaces with an ominous message. With his crime-lord brother also on his… Read the Plot
What is the plot of ‘Love Hurts’?
Marvin Gable (Ke Huy Quan) is a successful realtor who’s past as a violent hitman comes back to haunt him when his former partner (Ariana DeBose) reveals that his brother (Daniel Wu) is hunting him.
Who is in the cast of ‘Love Hurts’?
Ke Huy Quan as Marvin Gable in ‘Love Hurts’, directed by Jonathan Eusebio. Photo: Universal Pictures.
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