After finding the perfect Lucy in Dakota Johnson, director Celine Song set her sights on completing her leading trio in Materialists. For Lucy’s broke, soft-hearted ex John, Song met an immediate match with Chris Evans after meeting with him. “I walked away from that conversation knowing that in his humility, his passion, his dedication to his craft… there was something about the way he was talking to me about his love and his work, his ambitions, the places he felt certain and the places he felt uncertain. It was very moving to me, it’s a feeling that doesn’t leave you.”
Evans wanted to work with Song as he was drawn to her previous work, her 2023 Academy Award-nominated debut Past Lives. “What Celine is so good at is taking scenes that feel simple, but are still incredibly deep and complex,” Evans says. “Those moments that maybe we’ve seen in romances, she has a way of making every moment feel the way it feels to us in life, which is special and personal and meaningful and complex and lasting.”
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Materialists tells the story of Lucy, a young ambitious matchmaker in New York City. Chance encounters leave her torn between the perfect match, the charming and rich Harry, and her imperfect ex, sweet yet troubled John.
For the character Harry, Song created a man that a pragmatic matchmaker like Lucy would find high-value in the dating pool. “Harry wants to be the most valuable version of himself, and he has a lot in common with Lucy on that level,” Song says. “They’re really clear about their own value, and they also believe in improving it, which is why I think Harry and Lucy respect each other so much.”
In Pedro Pascal, she found a sweetness in personality that would offset the carefully constructed persona of Harry. “Pedro I’ve known and loved for a while, but one day we were having a conversation that went very deep about the holiness of love — and the insane difficulty of love, love as a challenge — and I just realized then and there that I was talking to Harry.”
Find out who will capture Lucy’s heart as Materialists opens in Philippine cinemas on August 6.
