The devil Wears Prada Author Aline Brosh McKenna brought together Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher for the Netflix rom-com your place or mine (Release February 10).
The film follows Debbie (Witherspoon) and Peter (Kutcher), who have been friends for 20 years, as their friendship takes a new turn when they swap houses for a week.
Debbie is a mother to Jack (Wesley Kimmel) in Los Angeles, while Peter, a New York brand consultant, is single. In rom-com fashion, even if they spend their time in different parts of the country, this friendship can be something more as they learn more about each other.
What is particularly unique about the format of your place or mine is that the two main characters spend most of their time apart, with the film using a split-screen technique to see them communicate through technology.
But Witherspoon, who didn’t know Kutcher prior to working on this film, says she had to have some sort of established relationship with the actor to truly become people who have known each other and stayed connected for two decades.
“I kind of had a little panic attack because we didn’t know each other,” Witherspoon said at a press conference ahead of the film’s release. “About a month ago I was like, ‘I don’t know this guy and we’re supposed to be best friends for 20 years.'”
“So we started sending each other videos every day. … It was really fun, and then our kids came into the videos and our dogs.”
“Every day we sent videos back and forth of how your day was going? What’s up? What is happening with you? What are you afraid of?” Kutcher added.
“I met your father. We hung out on your porch quite a bit. … Then when we started filming, we were kind of used to communicating that way.”
Much of the film’s story is based around literature and reading, with Debbie and Peter both being book lovers. In preparation for the role, McKenna sent Kutcher a list of 10 books to read.
“Each of the books contained notecards about what Peter took away from that book, specifically what he took away from that book as an author,” Kutcher said. “I actually fell in love with reading fiction all over again because of that experience.”
While Kutcher is known for appearing in rom-coms like No strings attached, valentines day And What Happens in VegasWriter-director McKenna consistently described the actor’s character as “grown up.”
“She used the word ‘grown up’ a lot,” Kutcher said at a press conference ahead of the film’s release. “She says, ‘I want you to have grown-up hair.'”
“This is my hair. Like, it’s old. It is 45 years old. It’s the same age as me. But the style and just the composite essence of the character, I think it was a juxtaposition to the ubiquitous world of Debbie. So it was fun playing that.”
Although Debbie and Peter lead relatively opposite lives, your place or mine it’s really about having the courage to do something you want.
