🎬 Meet the woman bringing rom-coms back

✋ Who else gets overstimulated shopping at Sephora?! You’re gonna love this.

📱 Social media “tasteslop” is a very real thing! Here’s how to avoid it. 

🧘‍♀️ Last call to upgrade your activewear drawer: Athleta’s Semi-Annual Sale ends June 28, with up to 60% off. These would make the comfiest WFH bottoms for summer.*

😬 Reality stars are officially the most influential celebrities in America. 

💗 As if we needed another reason to be excited about the Legally Blonde prequel!

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Rom-Coms Are So Back—And You Can Thank Leah McKendrick

The writer, director, and actor of Netflix’s new rom-com, Voicemails for Isabelle, opens up about making a love story with grief at its center, why messy women are the best women to write, and the rom-coms that still make her cry.

💡 Take me back to the moment when you got the idea for this film?

“My roommate at the time, Hillary, was doing this women’s stand-up class workshop, and she had this hilarious bit about her British father, who leaves her these long voicemails and says nothing over the course of, like, 20 minutes—literally just talks about the weather and what he ate for dinner. 

The next comedian gets onstage and says, ‘That’s so nice that your dad calls you back. My dad hasn’t called me in three years.’ And everybody’s like, ‘Ooh.’ And she’s like, ‘I mean, he’s dead.’ Everybody was so uncomfortable, and I remember thinking it was so funny. 

And then I thought, ‘That’s hilarious, this concept of a girl who keeps waiting for her dad to call her back, but he’s dead.’ Then I thought, ‘If my sister were to pass, I’d be waiting every day for my sister to call me back.’ And then I thought, ‘No, if my sister were to pass, I would just keep calling her.’ 

That was the idea. It was so tied to the fact that my rock in my life and the great love of my life is my sister. Throughout the movie, Jill (Zoey Deutch) keeps saying, ‘Call me,’ even though her sister is gone. It’s just, ‘Call me, reach out, show me. I need you. A sign, something. Give me something to hold onto.’”

👭 This is a romantic comedy, but the emotional heartbeat is Jill’s relationship with her late sister, Isabelle. How did you think about balancing grief, sisterhood, and romance?

“My favorite films manage to hop across genres. I love a movie that makes you laugh and cry and feel scared or feel action. I love all of it. I love all genres. I’m just a big believer in throwing a lot at an audience, ’cause I just don’t think life is one genre, you know? Like, how many times have you had one of the most heartbreaking experiences of your life, but you laugh? Because it’s overdrive. It’s so intense to be a human. It’s so intense to be alive. Or you’re laughing, and then you start to cry because you feel it deeply human in that moment. So all of my work, I think, will always traverse a lot of genres.”

💌 What did you feel might have been missing from modern rom-coms that you wanted this movie to bring back—or do differently?

“Is it too cheap to say that I wanted tears? Nancy Meyers movies make me cry. Nora Ephron movies make me cry. Jerry Maguire makes me cry. I love to be in my feels. I love to feel connected to characters. I think it requires a little bit of darkness and a little bit of loss to have that catharsis by the end.”

🤪 You’ve said your work often centers on women behaving badly. How does that show up in Jill, and why are messy women so fun—or important—for you to write?

“Oh my God. They’re the best. I really feel like those are my favorite characters to tell—characters that are complicated and unlikable, and you don’t understand them all of the time, but somehow you still are rooting for them all of the time. I think it’s because we’ve all seen ourselves be that person. We all know that we’ve made some weird choices, but we’re still worthy of love and understanding.”

🎬 You wrote, directed, and starred in this movie. What was it like wearing all three hats?

“It’s not as hard as people say. I really believe that if you’re a writer, you should try your hand at directing. If you’re a director, you should absolutely try acting. For me, it enables me to speak to my actors in a really intimate way because I am an actor. 

And I’ll tell you, the things that I lack—because I didn’t go to directing school, I didn’t go to film school, I went to acting school—I make up for by knowing my story front and back, backwards and forwards, better than anybody. 

I think that’s really your job: to show up, love it, have a clear vision, and know it. A lot of people can do that if they wrote the script. I think they all feed each other. It has been the most satisfying experience of my life to have a story that is so dear to me and be able to execute it on screen and behind the camera.”

This interview has been edited and condensed.

🫧 Fancy hand soap is such an underrated luxury, and this luxe Grown Alchemist one is currently 20% off for Prime Day, bringing it down to $24!

🪽 Contributing Writer Lara has already deemed MERIT’s brand-new Volumizing Tubing Mascara her summer makeup MVP. It just launched yesterday, and she's been loving the comb-style wand that builds out volume without any clumps. Plus, it doesn't irritate her sensitive eyes (major!!).*

🎶 This is not a drill: Carly Rae Jepsen’s first single, “On Wires,” off her upcoming double album, is out today!

🎤 It’s an exceptionally good day for music, because Gracie Abrams also just dropped her new single “Look At My Life.”

🍺 Lara’s latest hyperfixation is this root beer float-flavored sparkling water from Waterloo, made in collaboration with Guy Fieri. 🤪 TBH, it really is taking her to Flavortown! It somehow tastes sweet, creamy, and nostalgic, but without any sugar or calories.

Before you log off for a well-earned weekend of rest and relaxation, let us help you curate your weekend vibes. ✨

📚 To read: Craving a little Euro summer? Kira Jane Buxton’s deliciously absurd novel Tartufo takes place in a charming (but dying) Italian village that’s desperate for a little excitement… until a giant truffle changes their fate forever. Plus, you can find it for just $7.49 on Book Outlet, where brand-new books are at least 50% off list prices every day.*

👀 To watch: America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is back on Netflix for S3, and it’s a fascinating glimpse into the squad’s newfound fame thanks to the show (so meta!). 💙 

👩‍🍳 To cook: It’s officially tomato season, and that calls for this fabulous Cheesy Southern Tomato Pie recipe from Serious Eats! 🍅

🌴 To travel: Grab your girls, Miami Beach is calling! Two nights at a luxury resort for up to 55% off, daily breakfast, a welcome drink, $25 dining credit, and late checkout because nobody's rushing out after a Miami night. Book before July 31st and start the group chat!*