Halle Bailey, You, Me & Tuscany

Universal Pictures

Sometimes the wrong place is where you need to be to discover yourself. That’s the case for actress and singer Halle Bailey’s character, Anna, in Universal Pictures’ newest and highly anticipated, buzzy rom-com, You, Me & Tuscany, which was shot in picturesque Tuscany, Italy.

The film centers on Bailey’s Anna, a young woman navigating the difficulties of young adulthood, losing her mother, and, subsequently, her way, leaving her upended, disoriented, apathetic, and unsure of her career trajectory, after being fired from her housesitting gig. Anna is in search of her identity and purpose, which leads her to a spontaneous encounter with an Italian stranger, followed by an invitation to Tuscany to visit and stay at his villa, which she takes up on a whim, with obstacles along the way.

She later meets actor Regé-Jean Page’s character, Michael, a reserved but family-oriented vineyard owner, and they both discover the power of love and community in unexpected yet pleasant ways.

Bailey is aware of her and her co-star's chemistry on-screen, which is partly due to the beautiful Tuscan scenery. “I think whenever you go somewhere so beautiful, as beautiful as Tuscany, and you have somebody that you have been working with for a couple of weeks, you're in a groove, and you trust them, it’s very easy to build a bond and build chemistry and continue just to have fun together. I was really excited to go on Anna's journey with Michael. And I love that Regé-Jean really pulled things out of me. I learned a lot from him,” she told me.

Page agreed with her sentiment, “When you’re feeling good, when you have a great co-star, when you can trust each other, it’s easy. What we want to bring to the audience with this movie, we just have to bottle what's happening right here in real life, put it on screen, and hopefully, it'll feel somewhere near as good for the audience as it does for us,” he shared.

Aside from the breathtaking visuals, sizzling on-screen chemistry between Bailey and Page, and delicious food, the film tackles the complex topic of establishing self-identity through Bailey’s character. Bailey believes she re-learned sage life lessons from her character, Anna. “There are so many things that I learned from Anna’s journey. But the big takeaway for me, which I feel like was a parallel with my life, was that if you get knocked down, you get back up. She just kept trying and trying and trying until she found her safe place, her home, where she was meant to be in the first place,” Bailey revealed. “I think it's really beautiful for audiences to see that, within our lives, we go up and down, but that's the beauty of life, the experience that you get from everything that you go through, it's what makes you who you are. So I was very grateful to go on that journey with Anna, because I feel like I'm still learning so much about myself as a young woman every day. I felt like I could be honest with her throughout this film, because we're on a similar journey.”

Director of You, Me & Tuscany, Kat Coiro, believes that Bailey’s character represents hope, even during the messy stages within our lives. “Halle’s character, Anna, is such a relatable character, because we’ve all been in that time in our lives where nothing is going right and everything's a disaster. And what we need to do is take a leap of faith, step out on a limb, and step outside our comfort zone. And that is how we grow,” Coiro stated. “Halle and I talked a lot about that while we were making the film. You do not become an amazing kick ass woman if you haven't been through some stuff. So, we discussed how her character, Anna, would come out at the end of this film as a better person. I think it's really relatable, and I'm so excited for young women to see themselves.”

Coiro found herself inspired by Bailey as a woman and rom-com lead on set. “A lot of bringing this movie to life was leaning on her (Bailey) for her authenticity and her voice. Those scenes between her and Aziza Scott (Claire) were really malleable. I think part of the genius of Will Packer (producer of You, Me & Tuscany) is that he always has his mind on the audience, and he’s always thinking about what they want and need. It was always a constant conversation and evolution every day with this movie,” she shared.

Packer chimed in, “I love the fact that we’ve got this lead, this young woman who throws caution to the wind, makes bad decisions, and steps out of her comfort zone. I think we could all use a little bit of that. I also love a good rom-com, and I don't think we've had one in a long time, certainly not in theaters. So this is the type of film that really lends itself to communal viewing. You have fun because the audience around you is having fun. That's what I wanted.”

He continued, “People are looking for an escape from the real world, and I wanted to be a part of a movie that allowed people to pause on their real lives and come take the journey. It’s a movie that not only has universal themes, but I also want it to feel inclusive to everybody, everybody can appreciate and love. It's not exclusive.”

Both Packer and Coiro want the audience to feel joy, rediscovery, and love while watching the film. “I want them to feel joy, the same joy that Halle and Regé-Jean feel in each other’s presence, working and playing off each other. I want our audience to feel that joy, and I want people to feel, for a minute, a lack of cynicism. I think our world is so full of cynicism. And this movie represents hope; you are allowed to dream,” said Coiro. “Come take a trip to Tuscany with us, and it's about the love of a perfect man, but it's also the love of family, the love of food and the love of self, and that's what I hope young women walk away with, like the person you need to fall in love with most is yourself,” exclaimed Packer.

You, Me & Tuscany premieres in theaters on April 10.