'Romeo and Juliet', from the Perspective of an Ex

A retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is coming to Disney+, but not in the way you think. No, it's not another remake of the play, and no, Leonardo DiCaprio will not be taking the wheel for this one. Enter: Rosaline, a film shot entirely from the perspective of Romeo's ex-girlfriend. Played by Booksmart's Kaitlyn Dever, Rosaline will showcase the iconic rundown of events from the overlooked character's frame of mind.

In honour of the film's official premiere tomorrow, L'Officiel Singapore got the chance to attend the global press conference of the film where lead actress Kaitlyn Dever (Rosaline) and director Karen Maine sat down to discuss the freedom of creation Dever was allowed with her character, the music behind the film, and more. 

Rosaline is actually mentioned in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. What was your entry point into learning about her? Did you notice her the first time you read it?

Kaitlyn: Yes, well, she is mentioned in Romeo and Juliet. But she's a very, very, very small role in the story. And so, because of that, it was actually a really exciting prospect because you can kind of do anything and everything you want to, and the character that I created with Karen was kind of something that we just felt like you could go for it in so many ways. I was just having so much fun with the role. I appreciated and admired her determination, fearlessness, and drive. And playing up the comedy! The writing is so brilliant. It was really easy to kind of go there.

How did you choose the music for the film?

Karen: The music was very fun to play around with. Whenever I make a film, I just do a deep dive into Spotify and make a playlist. And I remember Kaitlyn too does this to an extent, which I'll let [her] talk about. But Kaitlyn also had made a Rosaline playlist and sent it to me. So, I had that as well. 

Kaitlyn: There's new stuff. There's old stuff. There's Enrique, there's Celine, there's Robin. And other than Ethan Gruska, everything is sung or written by a woman. The Enrique, we had it covered by an amazing artist named Anna of the North. So, it's all very female. I wanted the film to just have this very strong female undercurrent in the music. And the composers we worked with, Ian and Sofia Hultquist, Sophia lent her vocals to a lot of the score as well. So there's this beautiful female presence that sort of stands in for Rosaline's mind and what she's thinking, and really helps just, you know, solidify her narrative and her story and her psyche.

A lot of songs made me feel like Rosaline. I like to create a playlist for each role that I do. I started doing that a couple of years ago. And it just is really helpful to sort of, like, set the tone and the mood for the day. And I think our soundtrack definitely sets the mood and the tone for the movie.