Endless Love star Alex Pettyfer is a hopeless romantic, he told Movie Fanatic recently. Then his experience making the remake of Endless Love had to be a complete and utter thrill. The film explores the all-out passion and all-consuming nature of first love.
“What I love about this movie is it’s about two young people falling in love for the first time and that naivety that they have. A lot of movies, like Love Story, which is one of my favorite love films of all time -- with Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neill -- touch on the basis of what they have to do when they fall in love and then get married, have children,” Pettyfer said.
“This doesn’t touch on that subject. It’s about pure love and the consequences that come with that, with being a young man and young woman.”
So Alex, what are your favorite movie romances?
“I love Love Actually (see what he means and watch Love Actually online). I love Bridget Jones. Please don’t judge,” he said and laughed.
Pettyfer stars in Endless Love with Gabriella Wilde as two love-struck teenagers who are ready to sacrifice their respective futures so that they can be together. It also stars Bruce Greenwood as Gabriella’s father and Robert Patrick as Pettyfer’s. Working with those veteran actors was a priceless gift.
“To work with Bruce Greenwood, even Robert Patrick, is an incredible experience for someone like me -- someone who is just starting out and will hopefully have longevity. To work with Bruce and see his work ethic, the way he approaches a scene, is mind-blowing to me. He sees things that I don’t even notice,” Pettyfer said before citing an example.
Endless Love Trailer
“There was a scene where we all sit down for dinner and he turns to Gabriella and he says, ‘I want a placemat set for my lost child. I want an empty seat there because my character would still set the table because I’m still in mourning.’ I would never think of that! He adds layers to a scene.”
In the original book and 1980s film starring Brooke Shields, the character of David is a little more unstable, and thus not so redeemable. Pettyfer said that writer-director Shana Feste made a correct instinctual decision to have it changed.
“We wanted a movie where David has made a conscious decision to change his life for the better. We access the movie to a point where he’s a little bit in love with Jade -- when they meet at the valet. That’s a moment that’s been waiting to happen for four years. We didn’t want to indulge in something that he wasn’t part of in the past. We wanted his past to loiter around him,” he said.
“We didn’t want to have any baggage. You see David in hopefully one of the best times of his life. Meeting this woman is an incredible thing for him and only makes him want to strive to be a better man.”
Since the film is arriving on Valentine’s Day, there is no better day for lovers. So, what are Pettyfer’s plans?
“My mom is coming up for Valentine’s Day and being my date. I asked her what she wanted to do for Valentine’s Day,” Pettyfer recalled. “And she said, ‘I want to go see Endless Love.’ I said, ‘OK, I’ll set up a screening.’ She said, ‘No. We’re going to the Grove and we’re going to sit there and watch it in a movie theater.’”
Endless Love is the perfect film for hopeless romantics like Pettyfer. And given his experience with his first love, he certainly could channel those feelings of living solely… for that love. “I think that first love defines you and your relationships, for the rest of your life. I had a great first love. My heart was ripped out of my chest, but I think that happens to everyone,” Pettyfer said.
“When you fall in love for the first time, you’re naive to every feeling that you’re feeling, and you’re almost obsessed with or addicted to that person. Your life is consumed by them, and everything you want to do revolves around them.”
Love Alex Pettyfer? Watch Magic Mike online and see him as never before!