The Kissing Booth 2 stars share lessons on love, heartbreak & friendship
MANILA, Philippines — In Netflix’s youth-oriented film, The Kissing Booth, lead stars Joey King and Joel Courtney play besties Elle and Lee, respectively, who have set hard rules and clear boundaries for their friendship but end up struggling to follow them.
The first film (released back in 2018) saw Elle committing a major dealbreaker, which was falling for Lee’s older brother Noah (Jacob Elordi). In the sequel, the BFFs have gotten over the rough patch in their friendship, entering their senior year, preparing for college life, and just being happy with their relationship with each other and with their respective significant others. Or are they?
The sequel is now streaming on Netflix. Ahead of the global premiere last July 24, we had a fun, little chat with Joey and Joel who had two years to reflect on the success of the first of The Kissing Booth films, as well as the real-life lessons and friendships that emerged out of it.
Joey believes the success of the first film was because it was fun, light, had goodness at its core and served as “a homage to the ‘80s rom-coms that make our hearts spark with joy.”
Joel, on the other hand, gave credit to the storyline of Elle and Lee. “I think, there’s just purity to the joy and love between two people that are kinda like soulmates but not in any sort of physical relationship.”
For both young stars, audiences could use some joy and lightness in their lives, especially this time of pandemic. “I think, it’s the perfect time for the movie to come out. The world is really going through a really tough time. I think that where we can find joy, and feel good about it, is a blessing,” said Joey.
“We’re all social distant and, I think, there’s a longing for connectivity. The Kissing Booth can and will bring a little bit of that,” said Joel. “Any way to bring people together at this point, I think has to be capitalized on. And I’m so excited to be part of something that will be able to do that for people.”
Below is the rest of our Zoom interview.
Following the success of your first film, how was the filming experience for the second one, especially in terms of challenges and pressure?
Joey: “Filming the sequel was so much fun, oh my gosh! It was just like hanging out with all of your best friends all the time. But yeah, there was a lot of new challenges that we faced and you know, the added pressure of wanting the fans to love it as much as they loved the first one. And, you know, we definitely felt that! But when we were filming it, after we read the script, every day was just so fun — just a testament to how great the movie was going to turn out. And then when we saw it, I think it just exceeded our expectations. And I love the first movie, but I personally think this one is better.”
Joel: “I would agree. Honestly being back on set, being back in South Africa (where shooting took place), having our friends around us again, even some of the same crew from the first set, I mean, it was just so special. And it felt special in the same way that the first film felt like really, really different from anything else that I’ve ever done.
“And in terms of pressure, it kind of slipped away, you know. It became about hanging out with Joey on set, and that’s the friendship for Elle and Lee. Having all of our friends around us, it was a school kind of vibe — a little bit. I mean, it was the best of times.”
What was your initial reaction when you learned you would be working together again and reprising your roles?
Joey: “The initial reaction, I think, was just pure elation and excitement, and a huge part of that was getting to work with Joel again. I mean, we just had so much fun in the first movie. Every time we get together, it’s just absolute chaos and ridiculousness, and just laughter and so much laughter.
“So the anticipation of working with Joel again was amazing, but then actually working with him was just the best. We laughed a lot, but also we spent a lot of time together, and in that time, you go through a lot of things that have to do with work and also personally. Just being there for each other and being a support system is something that we can always rely on each other for and I’m just really thankful for that.”
Joel: “Yeah, I think, I focus more on the laughter when I talk about Joey’s and my relationship. But not to downplay the hard times we’ve gone through, that has kind of like burned away the dross, you know. Everything that is between Joey and I has come from really great times and really hard times.
“And, I think, that is why we are so close and why Joey is a one-of-a-kind friend for me. We’ve been through these two films together, and so many tears and so many laughters — some of the tears from laughter. It’s just one of those things where it was such a blessing to come back to Elle and Lee. And it also brought back together Joey and Joel for just more friendship and more time together.”
What do you think of how your characters developed in the sequel?
Joel: “It’s one of those things where you grow, you know. You go through hard times and you mature. Those stages of being young, like in those high school years, there’s a lot of changes, a lot of lessons learned and Lee’s going through those. He’s learned like, you can’t really place boundaries on your best friend’s heart. If she falls for your brother, she falls for your brother. Does it suck? Yeah! But you get through it.
“And you come into the second film and he’s not the same guy. He’s gone through something that he originally believed would be an absolute dealbreaker and just unforgivable, and he’s forgiven, and he’s grown from it.”
Joey: “I think Elle’s development comes from a lot of mistakes that she has to make in the second film. She learns a lot in the first movie, and she has a lot to learn in the second one, too. She deals with a lot of new emotions for her. I mean, she’s in a long-distance relationship. First time in her life, she deals with jealousy, longing, missing that person, not knowing what to do, not knowing how to give them space, but also just missing them unconditionally. She has to figure out a lot of stuff, but ultimately, she’s that bright young girl that we love. And she’s funny and she finds a sense of humor everywhere she goes. And you know, she’s just a really generous friend always. But it’s really fun to watch her journey and see all the crazy decisions that she has to make and all the things she goes through in the second movie.”
While The Kissing Booth is a story about friendship, it’s also a rom-com. What’s your main takeaway on love and relationships from the sequel?
Joey: “The sequel, I think my biggest takeaway for love and relationship is that you have to kind of always seek advice. But there’s really no better way to learn a lesson than to make your own mistakes and I think that’s one of the biggest lessons that Elle takes away and I think for myself and for most people. Unless you want to do something yourself, no matter what anybody else says, you’re gonna have to go through what you have to go through. And so, you have to make your own mistakes. You have to pave your own way and kind of feel all the feelings and break your own heart in the process in order to learn lessons that need to be learned.”
Joel: “I would agree. So, I’m just gonna say ditto (laughs). No, I’m kidding. Lessons learned the hard way are the most memorable. There’s a quote from someone — I can’t remember who it is — but it’s like, you can learn far more from a wrong answer than a right answer because you don’t know what made up the right answer, but you can find what made it a wrong answer, right?
“It’s one of those things where, if you make a mistake in a relationship, you feel that hurt. So, you’re like, ‘I never want to feel that again. So, I don’t want to do X, Y and Z again.’ And I think Lee really puts himself in some tough positions that he can acknowledge, ‘That hurt and I hurt her, not only myself, and I never want to do that again.’ There’s nothing like a lesson learned the hard way.”
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