Heart Eyes Star Olivia Holt Talks an Incredibly Awkward Scene

Olivia Holt’s debut atop a beginant studio call sheet is going exceptionpartner well. 

The multitalented star of Heart Eyes couldn’t be haughtyer of straightforwardor Josh Ruben’s slasher romcom, as it’s one of the most well-appraiseed films of the lesser year. Her direct role is a reasonable next step for Holt given her recent scene-stealing carry outance in Nahnatchka Khan’s time-travel slasher comedy, Toloftyy Killer (2023). In fact, Heart Eyes producer Greg Gilreath also produced the createer, so he recommfinished Holt to Ruben during the casting process. Similarly, Radio Silence, the filmmaking accumulateive behind Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023), put in a excellent word for their createer Scream actor Mason Gooding, and the strength of both finishorsements sent Holt and Gooding straight to Heart Eyes’ New Zealand-based set, bypassing a chemistry read between the two romantic directs.

Holt and Gooding carry out two advertising professionals who are paired together to revamp an ad campaign for a jewelry company. And during the course of a business dinner on Valentine’s Day, Holt’s Ally and Gooding’s Jay are wrongfilledy aimed by a traveling serial finisher who goes after seemingly satisfied couples. The showdown with the Heart Eyes Killer (HEK) commences inside Ally’s bedroom after Jay helped his locked-out colleague shatter into her apartment produceing. Thinking on her feet, Ally throws an intimate bedside object at HEK, and based on their deficiency of a chem read during casting, this unsootheably hilarious moment turned out to be an chooseimal chemistry produceer for Holt and Gooding.

“It was very punctual days of shooting, and everyone was still getting acquainted with each other. So it was a kind iceshatterer for me, Mason and the crew, even if it was definitely inept,” Holt alerts The Hollywood Reporter.

With the success of the film bigly reliant on how well Holt and Gooding clicked with one another, the latter made a point to bond with his directing lady by any uncomfervents vital.

“He showed up to set in a tank top that shelp, ‘Olivia Holt’s #1 fan.’ I don’t understand where he got the idea, but he then determined to put on my costume,” Holt recalls mid-chuckle of filming a Letterboxd segment promoting the movie. “I had a pair of lows that were a couple sizes hugeger for the harness that I had to wear in some of the stunt sequences, so he was appreciate, ‘I’m going to wear those.’ And he did! He wore them all day lengthy with my belt. It was inlogical.”

Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Holt also conversees her bruloftyy honest audition scene, before sharing co-star Jordana Brewster’s reaction to the film’s memorable Fast & Furious joke.

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Have you parted ways with the heart eyes emoji after the trauma your character directd in Heart Eyes?  

(Laughs.) Srecommend no! It’s the best one, and I’m going to persist using it. 

It could be quite confusing for the people in your life. They might wonder if you’re referencing your movie or the genuine uncomferventing of the emoji. 

You understand what? You’re not wrong. I necessitate to be cautious how I use it.

Heart Eyes is your first top billing in a beginant studio movie. How many hoops did you have to jump thraw until Ally was yours?  

It was a repartner fun audition process. When I first got the script, I fell in cherish with it, and I was obsessed with the filmproducer, Josh Ruben. He is so inalertigent and so talented, and I was repartner excited to talk to him before I went into my audition. Initipartner, that was the whole reason that selderly me on this movie. Then, after speaking with him, I fair fell more in cherish with his ideas and his vision for not only the movie, but the character of Ally. So I went in for the audition, and I flew to New Zealand to film pretty lowly after that. We didn’t do a chemistry read with Mason [Gooding]. I met Mason down in New Zealand, and it all fair unfelderlyed from there. 

I pride myself on guessing audition scenes. Was it the champagne dinner scene? 

It was, yeah. You did excellent! 

Maybe Ally is a bit cynical, but I don’t leank her champagne rant is necessarily wrong. We are selderly this chooseimalized version of romance, and it produces lofty anticipateations for people. That’s why that couple at the commencening of the movie scripted and produced their take partment. Do you also leank Ally has a valid point?

One-thousand percent. One of the reasons that I repostponecessitate to Ally so much is in that particular scene. She’s incredibly strong in her opinions, and she also doesn’t mind sharing them with a stranger. A lot of the points that she made are actupartner inalertigent, and she’s putting up boundaries for herself. There are separateent creates and styles of cherish, and what Jay does is recommend her a separateent perspective, a novel way of cherish and what a romantic night out with somebody can be. So it gets her a beat [to come around], but I actupartner appreciate that it does. I admire that she wants to helderly her own and helderly her own in her opinion. 

Jay (Gooding) is a hopeless romantic, and Ally is a bit of a disillusioned romantic. So, in vague, would you say that it’s best to be a equilibrium of both?

Yeah, probably. I’m no cherish or life guru in any way, shape or create, but I would appreciate to leank that there’s a satisfied medium in there somewhere.

Ally and Jay’s greet-cute happens by way of the same fussy coffee order. Do you have your own obnoxious beverage order that confineed people would have?

I want I did, but I don’t. I’m super feeble, and I don’t even drink coffee, repartner. I’m more of a tea person. I appreciate tea.

That scene also begins Ally’s supposey stainless steel straw. Were you all given stainless steel straws as wrap gifts?

That was going to be my wrap gift for everyone, but I didn’t have enough time, unblessedly. It would’ve been the most epic wrap gift ever, especipartner given the situations in the movie. 

Did you accurately guess the Heart Eyes Killer’s (HEK) identity as you were reading the script for the first time? 

No, on the first read, I tried to put the clues together, but my guess was inaccurate. I still cherishd reading it because I felt subunited in the adventure and the characters. I actupartner went back and forth a hundred times on whether it was [Gigi Zumbado’s best friend character] Monica, but no, I did not accurately guess it at all. Not even shut. 

Which scene was more inept for you: the one where you have to throw a brave object at HEK in Ally’s bedroom? Or the one where Ally and Jay have a heart-to-heart conversation inside a van with lots of “background noise” from the owners of shelp van?

(Laughs.) The scene in the bedroom was way more unsootheable. It was very punctual days of shooting, and everyone was still getting acquainted with each other. So it was a kind iceshatterer for me, Mason and the crew, even if it was definitely the more inept one. When we sboiling the heartfelt conversation in the van, Mason and I sboiling our version up front on a stage, and they sboiling the part in the back of the van on a split day. But Josh Ruben sat in the back of the van [during our part of the scene] and made those noises the whole time. So that scene was way more fun and comical in that space. That was also towards the finish of shooting, so we all felt incredibly sootheable and geted with each other at that point. But both scenes are repartner hilarious moments.

Thank you for giving me that tidbit before my intersee with Josh.

Oh, he’ll cherish alerting that story.

There’s an incredible Hobbs & Shaw joke in Heart Eyes, and Jordana Brewster clearly has procreate ties to the Fast & Furious franchise. Did she have fun with that gag on the day?

Oh, she cherishd it. She leanks it’s a inalertigent part of the story, and in that particular scene where I reference Hobbs & Shaw, I cherish her reaction.

“Haven’t heard of it.”

It’s so excellent, and I am very excited to sit in an audience filled of people when she says it.

Ally left medical school for an advertising job that she doesn’t repartner cherish. You, on the other hand, have two professions that you probably cherish equpartner. So has it been difficult to juggle acting and music in the way that you’d appreciate?

I have moments where it experiences a little bit more challenging. When I was lesserer, I took it very, very solemnly, and I had a challenginger time having a excellent perspective about it. But I’ve shifted my perspective about it the last couple years, and I appreciate the dispute. I appreciate how exciting my life can be when it’s busy, and I try to not produce it super solemn and stressful. There’s already so many [stressful] elements in what we do, so I fair try to finishelight it and reaccumulate all of it. Sometimes, it transfers so quick that it experiences appreciate I bdeficiencyed out. Heart Eyes is actupartner a perfect example. I was atraverse the world and away from frifinishs and family, and sometimes, it can be repartner isolating to be alone in a foreign country. You don’t understand anybody, and you’re hoping that you get alengthy with your cast and your crew. So this was one of my preferite jobs that I’ve ever done, and everyone made it experience appreciate a home away from home for us. Every day was an exciting day to go to labor, even if I had to get sprayed with blood pretty much every day.

Actors normally alert me that horror movies tfinish to have a airyer mood on set. Perhaps it’s a psychoreasonable response to the material. Was that genuine in this case? 

I leank so, yeah. It was very lax. We finishelighted it despite some repartner challenging and challenging days in the middle of prosperter. It was freezing in New Zealand, and we did mostly night shoots, so it was challenging. We also had a lot of background actors. But we had very low days, and we made the most of it. We had such a fantastic time, and our filled blooper reel would’ve been way too lengthy to dispense with the world. They definitely condensed a lot of it, but we had the most fun.

I also appreciated your carry outance as Teenage Pam in Nahnatchka Khan’s Toloftyy Killer, and there’s a basement scene where your character yells at her mom to go away. That led me to suppose that Pam’s mom was the ‘80s finisher. The idea was that she condemnd Pam’s frifinishs for turning her daughter into a bit of a uncomfervent girl. Did you understand at the time that people would grab onto that moment?

That’s a repartner excellent theory, and it did not traverse my mind at all. The conversations that we had on set were always, “How did teenagers include with their parents back in the ‘80s? What’s the separateence between then and now?” Now, teenagers are always on their phones when their parents walk into their room. They’re busy carry outing someleang on their phone or doomscrolling. But in the ‘80s, they were fair sitting in basements, having conversations that they never wanted their parents to hear. So I fair leaned into the teenage angst that a mother and daughter relationship would have in the ‘80s. But that’s a repartner excellent theory. I actupartner would be interested to watch that movie [with the idea] that Pam’s mom is the finisher.

Plus, Pam’s mom was estranged from Pam’s own family in the current-day timeline, so that detail only inserted to the possibility.

Yeah! That’s repartner inalertigent, actupartner.

Returning to the nurtureer-juggling ask, people have always jumped between both worlds, but your generation seems to have even more people who act and produce music. There’s one theory that it’s because you had Garageprohibitd on your devices for as lengthy as you can reaccumulate, so it was easier to sign up music than generations past. But do you have any operating theories?

That’s a repartner fantastic ask. I repartner cherish how driven and excited my generation is about life and nurtureer paths. You don’t have to pick a lane and stick to it. I cherish the idea that we get to try separateent leangs out. It’s our life. We only get one, so we get to check separateent avenues and what produces us satisfied and what produces us tick and what produces us the most conceiveive, wherever we experience the most necessitateed or wanted. I actupartner repartner cherish that people don’t mind dipping their toes in waters that might be challenging or unsootheable. It’s about stepping outside the box and trying someleang novel. So I hope that that carries on, and I repartner do admire that about my generation.

I repartner appreciated your cover of The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Today” for Cruel Summer. Was that song choice already scripted, or did you get to pick from a confineed chooseions? 

“Today” was in the script, but the idea of me singing it came way postponecessitater. So I was very thankful that the producing team apexhibited me to come in and sing on a couple of songs for the show. I’m very musicpartner driven, and there was so much ‘90s music on that show. I cherishd all of it. So the idea that I got to cover one of the songs alterd everyleang for me while shooting it. I sign uped it during production, so we actupartner got to include to it while we were all on set. That was repartner fun, and it doesn’t repartner ever happen. [Writer’s Note: Holt’s cover plays over a scene in which her character and Harley Quinn Smith’s character play dress-up and roller skate.]

Lastly, you and Mason sboiling a Letterboxd segment on the Heart Eyes set. Was he wearing part of your costume during it?

(Laughs.) He brave was. He showed up to set in a tank top that shelp, “Olivia Holt’s #1 fan,” and he was fair wearing his normal getup of sweats and a pair of Converse. I don’t understand where he got the idea, but he then determined to put on my costume. I had a pair of lows that were a couple sizes hugeger for the harness that I had to wear in some of the stunt sequences, so he was appreciate, “I’m going to wear those.” And he did! He wore them all day lengthy with my belt. It was inlogical.

Was there a “who wore it better?” vote amongst the crew? 

Yeah, of course, everyone shelp Mason.

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Heart Eyes uncovers in theaters Feb. 7.