Felicity Jones and Nabhaan Rizwan are two of the stars in Netflix’s newly released romantic drama The Last Letter from Your Lover. The film jumps between a modern-day love story that plays out between Jones and Rizwan’s characters, while a steamy affair happens in the 1960s between Shailene Woodley’s Jennifer Stirling and Callum Turner’s Anthony O’Haire.
ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with Felicity Jones and Nabhaan Rizwan about their roles in the Netflix film, getting to add some levity to a heavy drama, and the death of love letters in the modern age. Check out the video below or view the full transcript.
Tyler Treese: Felicity, despite being based on a book, there’s a number of changes to your character’s relationship. To prepare for this role, did you read the original book or do you prefer to go off the script since there were going to be differences?
Felicity Jones: I find reading the book is really helpful. As you say, it was interesting to see what was different from the book to the screenplay and how that informed the character. In the book, Ellie is having an affair herself, which is part of what obviously prompts her interest in Jennifer’s affair story. But for the sake of the screenplay, it didn’t feel right to have that. It felt like it made more sense for Ellie to be a little bit adrift and a little bit lost, and also to make sure that the stories weren’t just mirroring each other in quite so obvious a way.
Nabhaan, your character is involved in this very modern love story. Meeting through work is already kind of a tricky situation and there’s the weird situation of being left on read and the uncertainty that that brings, but Rory navigates it all well, and he respects boundaries. Can you speak to that portrayal?
Nabhaan Rizwan: Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s a very realistic portrayal of what happens in the world and that boundary is important. And I think I love the fact that Ellie is quite forthcoming in her approach romantically and that kind of startles Rory. Then they learn each other’s rhythms and then they’re off.
Felicity, your character learns about herself from reading these old love letters. What did you really take away from the script and Ellie’s character arc?
Jones: Yeah, I think early on it gives her such hope when she finds the letters. I think she’s become a little bit disillusioned with life and what gives it meaning. So when she finds the letters, she’s just completely obsessed with them. I think they give her a sense of hope that love does exist and that love endures. I think she’s become quite cynical because of various disappointing experiences she’s had in her own romantic life.
Nabhaan, there are some really funny scenes in the archival room early on where Rory won’t let Ellie in with her food and drink. It’s a combination of being a stickler for the rules, but there’s also a bit of flirting later on. How great was it getting to add some humor to what is otherwise a very serious film?
Rizwan: Yeah, absolutely. It was a great responsibility, I would say. It was a joy to bring that to life with Felicity and it was just a joy to film and quite a different thing for me as well and in a direction that I personally wanted to push as well. So yeah, it was, it was great to have that responsibility.
Jones: It’s so much nicer doing humorous comic films as an experience. So I think both Nabhaan and I have probably done much kind of heavier serious work and you realize it’s a whole lot easier doing more lighthearted storylines.
Felicity, the film is a reminder that love letters are really sort of a lost art. I don’t think sliding into Instagram DMs has the same type of sophistication. Is it time for them to make a return? Should we bring back love letters?
Jones: Yeah. I mean, yeah, definitely. I’m a bit of a romantic at heart. I think the idea of a love letter is lovely. I think you have to be more honest when you actually write a letter, whereas you can hide it a little bit more when you’re writing an email or a text message. Whereas there’s something you have to be quite open in a letter and actually say what you mean.
