I wish you were here tells a tragic love story between two short-lived lovers, and one of the film’s stars hopes it will provide audiences with a particularly cathartic experience.
Directed by Julia Stiles, the film follows Isabelle Fuhrman’s Charlotte and Mena Moussad’s Adam, two people who experience a brief and intense connection during one night. Months later, Charlotte is still thinking about Adam, despite how messy it ended – when she learns he’s living his final days with cancer.
I wish you were here is based on the Book of the same name first published in 2017 by Renee Carlino.
The Direct sat down with the film’s main stars Isabella Fuhrman and Mena Moussad, as well as Gabby Kono-Abdy (who is both a producer and “Helen” in the film) to talk. I wish you were herea tragic love story.
How did reading the script first affect the stars?
“I fell in love with every character.”
- The Direct: “When the three of you first read the script, what were your immediate thoughts and how did it initially affect you?”
Gabby Kono-Abdy: When I first read the book in 2016, I devoured it in two hours. And I was so determined to bring this to the big screen that I fell in love with every character. I saw myself in every character. And I felt like this is a story that we needed as a society, a reminder of what cosmic connection can really be like and what it can do for a person to take risks and take risks and what it’s like to have a supportive best friend and a crazy loving family and then wondering who you would direct it to. It was kind of easy. Julia Stiles.
Isabelle Fuhrman: I worked with Julia, and she sent me the script. He (said), “I’d like you to read it. Think you’re Charlotte. He says, “I’d like to make a movie with you where people see you the way I’ve known you, because I feel like people have never seen you in a movie like this. ”
So it really touched me, and I really love the messages of the movie, the message of hope, the message of really jumping in headfirst and being open to love regardless of the outcome. And survive the ghosts. But I really just loved the movie and the script and devoured the book in about two hours. And it was like a no-brainer.
Mena Massoud: As an actor, I’m always looking for an arc, a character arc. And this was a very obvious character arc for this young man whose life is deteriorating, and he goes on this journey, and it’s tragic. It’s not tragic per se because of the ending, but I think it’s tragic because he finds this connection that I think only happens to us once or maybe a couple of times in our lives, but he doesn’t have a lot of time to enjoy it, and he tries to make the most of it, but in these terrible conditions. A
and that’s why I wanted to go through that journey. I fell in love with the character. I fell in love with the story. And even physically, I shaved my head for this role. I had to try to lose some weight in the short amount of time I had from start to finish of the film. So it ticked a lot of boxes for me.
And then also working with Isabelle, Gabby and Julia. I love working with industry titans and Julia Stiles is definitely that. She has done so many such films in her career, so there was no better person to learn from, especially since I have done a few romantic films in a row, and she is the queen of such films. I want to learn from him. It was absurd.
How stars Isabelle Fuhrman and Gabby Kono-Abdy added to their characters
“Each person has their own essence that they bring to that character.”
- The Direct: “When you brought these characters to life, what did you add to the characters that maybe wasn’t originally on the page, whether it was just little quirks or whatever?”
Isabelle Fuhrman: I think that’s the beauty of casting. It’s like when the director and the casting director combine who they want to be in. You look at the character on the page, but each person has their own essence that they bring to that character.
And I felt like with Charlotte when I read it, as a script and as a book, I was like personally in my own life, I’m very type A, I know what I want. type of person. How can I play someone who is kind of lost? And I was like, but what if he doesn’t think he is? He doesn’t think he’s lost. He thinks he has direction. Everyone around him just doesn’t see it, and maybe he doesn’t either, but he stands up for it.
And so I think I was able to play with certain parts of myself in it. And I think that’s my favorite part of acting. You will find things about these characters that are very different from you. And then you can play with certain aspects of yourself in them. You can remove certain parts of yourself. And then, very often, I leave the role and take things with me. There are definitely things that I brought with me from Charlotte.
Gabby Kono-Abdy: And then you play each other and discover new things in that game. It can completely transform a character and a role into something where you, the director, and everyone else are like, “Wow. I didn’t see that.’ Because it’s so personal and intimate, and you show vulnerability to each other in a different way than you might have planned.
Fuhrman: I really didn’t expect Gabby and I to fall head over heels in love. I thought this best friend chemistry is almost like we spend so much time together every single day. We worked on all these really deep scenes and got to talk and get to know each other. And that’s where I felt like Charlotte and Adam had this deep connection because eventually we could talk about anything. It was so easy to be around you and be in a scene with you.
And with Gabby. We met and had that best friend chemistry that you can spot if it’s not right, and Gabby (and I) really fell in love. I was like, ‘This is so easy. For example, why do I need to say what’s on the page? Like we should just tickle each other.
What does moving too quickly look like in a relationship?
“I think the 90-day fiance is completely appropriate.”
- The Direct: “The relationships in this movie are fast-paced. So I wanted to playfully ask you all, what do you think is too fast in a relationship?”
Gabby Kono-Abdy: Well, I mean, I got engaged to my husband after 90 days. So I’m a big lover of love, so Helen and I have that in common. I think the 90 day fiance is totally appropriate.
Mena Massoud: I didn’t know that by the way. It’s still perfect for Helen.
Kono-Abdy: I know. Maybe it was like a little method acting that I didn’t know about. I believe that when you know, you know. And I knew with my husband, and I think Helene knows with Roddy, and I think Charlotte knows with Adam, and Adam with Charlotte immediately.
Massoud: Yeah, I think we’ve all had those moments. You know, even if it doesn’t turn into a relationship where you look at someone and there’s an instant spark. There is an instant connection. You make eye contact and there’s just something there. And I think we definitely want people to feel that in this movie because it’s happened to all of us.
It probably happened to me when I was in elementary school. It happened again when I was in high school. I think it happens a lot. And they don’t always turn into relationships, but I think that kind of intimate connection or that spark is there for everyone, and we definitely want people to feel that.
Isabelle Fuhrman: I love (the) line that Seth says in the movie to Charlotte, it’s also in the book where he says, “I think different people connect different parts of your soul.” And I think that’s such a beautiful message because I think it’s very true. I mean, it’s very rare to meet one person and be in one relationship and be with someone forever, and those people are like, my God, you’re incredibly lucky. And it doesn’t seem to be easy either. Every relationship has ups and downs. They find the right person at the right time.
But to meet someone and be with them and have a soul connection and lose it, you really have to take a step forward. And that’s what you’re left with (are) in the movie at the end: this kind of hope that Charlotte will meet someone, whether it’s Seth or someone else, who will connect with a different part of her soul. That this isn’t just—his life isn’t over because this is over. It continues, and probably because of this relationship, he’s in a much better place than he was at the beginning.
What should the audience take away from wishing you were here?
“… Have a good cry and come out feeling a little lighter.”
- The Direct: “After this movie is done and over with, what do you want audiences to really take away from it the most?”
Mena Massoud: Personally, I want people to come and see it. And, you know, let a little bit of their experiences go. I think cancer has touched us all. And cancer is part of this movie. And I think for a lot of people, everyone deals with tragedy and grief differently, but I think movies and art are such a great way for us all to deal with our emotions and our tragic experiences. And that’s something that big blockbuster action movies sometimes don’t give you.
You really need a movie like this to go into the theater, cry, and come out a little lighter. And that’s something that I hope this movie does for people, because cancer is such a common disease in our society, and it really affects everyone. So I want people to use this film to get it all out.
Isabelle Fuhrman: I think this movie has so many beautiful messages about love and unconditional love and how we think that tomorrow is promised and life will go on as it is, but as we know, and especially last week, things can change in an instant and you always have to be thankful for people in your life and the people you love.
And what I love about Charlotte is that she is so brave to decide for herself that she will be there unconditionally despite the fact that she understands what is going on with Adam and what could happen. I love her no matter what and I feel like it’s such a beautiful message to remind people that you never know. So just hold the people you look like tighter and closer.
Gabby Kono-Abdy: And reminds people to take risks, right? We see Charlotte show resilience in this decision to live with him for days, and with that she has this wonderful love that we get to watch as well.
The entire interview can be viewed below:
I wish you were here is now playing in limited theaters.
