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May 19, 2025 Web Exclusive By Matt Conner

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life isn’t your typical rom-com—and that’s exactly the point. Director Laura Piani wanted a love story with bite, where the heroine saves herself first. Camille Rutherford brings that vision to life in a role that’s messy, funny, and deeply human. Under the Radar recently caught up with Piani and Rutherford to talk about building real chemistry on set, dodging tired romantic tropes, and why the best love stories always start with finding your own voice.

Matt Conner (UTR): It feels like with a romance, chemistry is the name of the game. I wanted to start out with this for both of you—the challenge of getting chemistry right. It starts on the page, but the actors are such a big part of making that actually play out. Obviously, between the three characters here, the chemistry makes it work. Laura, maybe starting with you: what’s it like to direct chemistry? It’s not always automatic.

Laura Piani: I’m not sure you can direct chemistry, to be honest. I don’t think you direct it—you cast it. The actors are in charge of the chemistry. It’s really all about casting.

Camille was my first choice. Once she accepted the role, I built the trio around her. I looked for the two men after I had Camille. I wanted Felix, the French friend, to be very joyful, open, sparkling, flamboyant—funny, because the friendship is there. They could be almost childish with each other, make jokes, and all that. So I wasn’t looking for obvious chemistry between them from the beginning. And then I was looking for the English actor who played Oliver—Charlie Anson. He had exactly what I was looking for. He’s very clever. He studied at Cambridge and had a very classical formation as an English actor. He’s extremely cultivated, educated, very gentle and delicate—more reserved.

In terms of energy, they were on opposite poles, which helped the chemistry. Camille could explore a different rhythm with the comedy, with the lines. Physically, they don’t have the same energy at all. So I think it’s about choosing the right people. We did a lot of readings and rehearsals before I offered the role to Charlie. I insisted on having a reading with Camille first, and I felt it would work from the beginning. Even though there would be a lot of work on all our sides to make the film right, you can feel it from the first minute.

Like, you either have it or you don’t.

Laura: I think so. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s my gut feeling. It’s irrational. It’s something invisible, but tangible somehow at the same time.

Camille, does that feel true for you too?

Camille Rutherford: Yeah. I’m going to be very pragmatic—I think you build it during rehearsals. At first, I was very shy. It’s never easy to play romance. In real life, I’m quite shy. I think everybody’s shy, we just deal with it differently. When I have to play love scenes or characters who fall in love, it’s always a bit weird at the beginning. It’s part of the job. But playing that you’re in love with someone—it’s so nice to act. Just like in real life, that moment when you fall in love is so great.

But it’s scary to play because sometimes you don’t know the other actor, and you have to get comfortable with everything. I would have been terrified if we hadn’t rehearsed before. So I think if the chemistry worked—and if you thought it worked—then I’m super happy. But if it did work, it’s because we rehearsed so much. That helped us get to know each other and be comfortable, to laugh and talk about life—not just have these hypocritical or boring conversations about the weather or casting rejections. We became friends during rehearsals—all four of us. We had full conversations about life, how hard it can be, and that kind of real truth helps.

Laura: I felt you had with both of them a relationship that was very close to what happens in the film. It was very easy—I could see you being close to the French guy: same age, same background, same neighborhood in Paris, lots of shared references. And with Charlie [Anson], it took more time. It was slower. And that helped with the playing.

Camille: It actually nourished the playing. As Laura is saying, both actors’ personalities are quite close to their characters. Ali is more reserved. Pablo [Pauly] is also reserved, but he hides it behind a lot of jokes. So it made things easier, because there was that real contrast.

Laura, you wrote in your director’s statement about being drawn to stories with misfits or people who are broken in some way—defined by their inability to fit in. Camille, I wondered if that was true for you too. Did that feel fitting in this role, and what was the challenge of playing that?

Camille: Yeah, I think we can all relate. Most people, I think, feel like losers at some point. I don’t know anyone with full, unwavering self-confidence. I’m not saying self-confidence is bad—it’s definitely better to have it than not. There’s a big difference between being pretentious and being confident.

But yeah, I could relate to Agathe because I sometimes feel like an imposter when I’m working. She feels like an imposter when she’s writing—like she’s not intelligent, cultivated, interesting, or witty enough to write a novel. And sometimes I feel like I’m not talented enough to fit a role. So I could definitely relate to her.

What you described around the friendships makes me think of the film—how Agathe needed people around her to push her, to get her into the residency. Did that dynamic play out in the making of the film too? That subtext of needing community to move forward?

Laura: Yeah, absolutely. It took me a while to realize it, but when the film was released in France, I understood that one of the key themes is encouragement. It’s a film about encouragement. All the characters are doing that, in some way, at some point—from the old woman who opens her house for writers, to the parents, to Oliver and the friend in the beginning. When you’re a writer, you need someone to write for—or someone to tell you that it’s worth it. That it matters. So yes, community is important, but also just giving a hand to someone else. I only fully realized that later.

The rom-com as a genre comes with its own stereotypes and formulas. Did you feel any challenges to navigate things there in a specific way?

Laura: I didn’t feel any tension. I felt a strong drive as a viewer to make the kind of film I want to see. That came from a very simple place. I was missing those indie rom-coms that weren’t just marketed products—films that were real cinema, that said something, that were sad somehow. The best rom-coms are sad. There’s a melancholy. It’s not just love and glossy people in nice houses.

I don’t like this obsession with reinventing genre—it feels pretentious. What matters is the audience’s journey. They know what they want. They want to be surprised, but not too surprised. It’s a weird balance. You’re working with expectations—people have seen the best: the Richard Curtis films, the Nora Ephron masterpieces. But it’s also 2025. The beauty of rom-coms is that you can talk about the time you live in—what’s changed in relationships, in dating, in expectations.

My only theoretical point going in was that I didn’t want a main character who’s saved by a man. I wanted a character whose goal was to become a writer. And only because she reaches that goal can she find love. She has to save herself. That was the most important thing for me—and we were all on the same page. That shared vision is why the film works.

Camille, was that part of what drew you to the role? That this wasn’t a character being saved by a man?

Camille: Definitely. I’m always looking for characters who are not saved by men.

Were there genre-related challenges for you too?

Laura Piani: You remember—you didn’t want to be cute.

Camille Rutherford: Yeah. For example, I love Four Weddings and a Funeral, but I think I would’ve never liked to play the role Andie MacDowell had. It’s a great part, but I’m more into quirky characters than perfect, beautiful women. The role I love most in Four Weddings and a Funeral is the best friend—the girl who lives with Hugh Grant and says “fuck” all the time. Bridget Jones too—I love her because she’s so imperfect. I didn’t want to be cute. Sometimes rom-com female characters are too cute—and not actually funny. That was something I kept thinking about. I wanted to make sure I was funny, not just pretty. That was a big concern for me.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is in theaters on May 23 via Sony Classics.