Rom-Com research? Check! Buff bod? Check! The cast of “Anyone But You” on how they prepared for their roles

PHOTO: The cast of Anyone But You at the New York premiere of the film in December 2023. (From left) Joe Davidson, Glen Powell, Dermot Mulroney, Alexandra Shipp, director Will Gluck, Charlee Fraser, Sydney Sweeney, Michelle Hurd and Darren Barnet.

Get ready to be charmed by Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell and the rest of the cast of Anyone But You. But first, find out how they prepared to play their roles in director Will Gluck’s new romantic comedy. 

In Anyone But You, Sweeney (Euphoria) and Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) play romantic enemies Bea and Ben, respectively, who have to put aside their personal vendettas and pretend to be a head-over-heels couple in order to keep the peace at Bea’s sister’s wedding. The film also stars Alexandra Shipp, Darren Barnet, Hadley Robinson, Dermot Mulroney, Rachel Griffiths, Michelle Hurd, Bryan Brown, Charlee Fraser, Joe Davidson and GaTa. 

Work hard at working out

“I didn’t realize how naked I would be [in the movie],” shares Powell, who plays Ben. “I knew it was a rom-com, which meant I should stay away from the beer for a bit. But I didn’t expect to be this naked, this often. I kept weights and resistance bands in my trailer that I would break out on certain days, just to keep everything looking good.”

Joe Davidson, who plays the boyfriend of the woman Ben is truly after, was traveling in Tasmania when his agent called with the news that Will Gluck wished to meet with him in Sydney. “It said specifically in the email that Beau must be big and strong, and I’d just spent a few weeks in Tasmania traveling around, so I wasn’t in peak physical condition at all,” recalls Davidson. “I headed up to Sydney and went into a Kmart, grabbed two dumbbells, and started a little workout. I did sit-ups, and everyone was like, ‘What’s this guy doing?’ I did a 30 min Kmart workout, then headed in for my audition.”

Watch the trailer:

Learn a new language 

Actor/rapper GaTa (Dave), who plays Ben’s best friend Pete, credits Gluck for pushing him to learn a lot of new things to portray Pete effectively. “What attracted me to playing Pete was that he is lively in spirit and cultured,” GaTa says. “I had a lot of preparation, and shout out to Will Gluck for challenging and pushing me as an actor. I learned Mandarin and Arabic, and how to drive on the wrong side of the road in Australia. It was dope to be able to put those into my repertoire.”

Get to know your onscreen partner

Playing Bea’s sister Halle is Hadley Robinson (Little Women, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty). In the film, it is Halle’s wedding to Alexandra Shipp’s Claudia that causes Bea and Ben to grudgingly cross paths again. As she prepared to play Halle, Robinson says that she saw in Shipp everything that would appeal to her character. “Alex made me smile every time I looked at her,” says Robinson. “She showed up with this great energy, always ready to go. Every single day at pickup, she’d stick her head out of the car window and say: ‘Let’s go, let’s do it!’ Halle and Claudia’s relationship is sweet and very special, and we have good chemistry.”

Watch romantic comedies

The younger cast members looked up to rom-com vets Dermot Mulroney and Rachel Griffiths, who play Bea and Halle’s parents, Leo and Innie, respectively. As inspiration, the cast gathered to watch My Best Friend’s Wedding, a popular ’90s rom-com that starred Mulroney and Julia Roberts, and in which Griffiths also played a part. “After we watched it as a cast,” recalls Powell, “Dermot looked at me and said, ‘Take this job seriously and take every moment seriously, because the beauty of being in a rom-com is, you represent love to people. Don’t take that lightly, because if you can represent love to people in movies, that’s the most beautiful thing you can do.’”

Be a boss behind the scenes

For Sweeney, who is also the executive producer, part of her preparations for the movie included 

convincing the right people to join the film, including the director and her fellow lead star. Says Sweeney of Gluck, “I was really, really excited to work on this project with him… He is so quirky in his own way. I love it.” 

Of Powell, she says, “Glen is handsome, charming, funny, talented, and thoughtful. He’s also an incredibly loyal friend and a true pro.”

Anyone But You, distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International, opens in cinemas January 17. #AnyoneButYou

Photo & Video Credit: “Columbia Pictures”