Imagine Me & You Production Notes

Tagline: There goes the bride.

Heck (Matthew Goode) and Rachel (Piper Perabo) are a happy young couple about to embark on life together. But at the church, Rachel catches the eye of an unexpected guest. In that moment, she realizes that maybe Heck isn’t the one for her. Of course, they will never know for sure unless they give it a shot.

“Imagine Me & You” is about a girl who falls in love on her wedding day…but not with the man of honor. Heck (Matthew Goode) and Rachel (Piper Perabo) are a happy young couple about to embark on life together. But at the church, Rachel catches the eye of an unexpected guest. In that moment, she realizes that maybe Heck isn’t the one for her. Of course, they will never know for sure unless they give it a shot. What follows is the romantic, humorous and sometimes poignant journey familiar to anyone who’s ever been lucky (or unlucky) enough to be under love’s spell.

In a singular moment of sudden awakening on the altar, everything changes for Rachel — played by Piper Perabo in a lively departure as a quintessentially modern British woman – when she is suddenly forced to reconsider the meaning of happily ever after on entirely new terms moments before her honeymoon has even started. When Rachel shows up at the church on what promises to be a fairy-tale wedding day, she is thrilled to be devoting herself for life to her long-time sweetheart and best friend, Heck (Matthew Goode). That’s when the unthinkable happens. In a moment that overturns everything in which she thought she believed, Rachel catches the eye of a complete stranger, the wedding’s florist (Lena Headey), and like a bolt from the blue, recognizes her soul mate.

Though she moves ahead with the marriage, something has profoundly changed. Everything about life is suddenly in question; and Rachel and her brand new husband are thrust into a journey that is at once disarmingly funny, decidedly bittersweet and definitely familiar to anyone who has ever fallen — for better or for worse — under love’s intoxicating spell.

The cast includes Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly, Cheaper by the Dozen), Matthew Goode (Match Point, He Knew He Was Right), Lena Headey (The Brothers Grimm, Ripley’s Game), Anthony Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Little Britain), Celia Imrie (Wimbledon, Calendar Girls) and Sue Johnston (Brassed Off).

Love at first sight; love under duress; platonic love; mad love; unrequited love; love that defies the rules; love that hurts; love that saves you – these are just a few of the various iterations of love that cause chaos, confusion and ultimately transform the lives of the characters in the heartfelt, humor-filled British comedy, Imagine Me & You.

About the Production

A refreshingly unconventional and witty comedy about love’s myriad forms and constant surprises, IMAGINE ME & YOU begins as a young bride discovers love at first sight on the day of her wedding… unfortunately, not with the man of honor.

When Rachel shows up at the church on what promises to be a fairy-tale wedding day, she is thrilled to be devoting herself for life to her long-time sweetheart and best friend, Heck (Matthew Goode). That’s when the unthinkable happens. In a moment that overturns everything in which she thought she believed, Rachel catches the eye of a complete stranger, the wedding’s florist (Lena Headey), and like a bolt from the blue, recognizes her soul mate. Though she moves ahead with the marriage, something has profoundly changed. Everything about life is suddenly in question; and Rachel and her brand new husband are thrust into a journey that is at once disarmingly funny, decidedly bittersweet and definitely familiar to anyone who has ever fallen — for better or for worse — under love’s intoxicating spell.

The Engagement: Story of Imagine Me & You

The film is written by, and marks the directorial debut of, Ol Parker, already considered part of a promising new generation of British filmmakers, who previously wrote the hip nightclub drama LOVED UP, the date-rape drama IN YOUR DREAMS and the crime caper IT WAS AN ACCIDENT. Having just been married himself (to actress Thandie Newton), Parker sat down to write about a subject close to his heart: how people fall in love and how love, in one way or another, comically and profoundly complicates life.

“I always start writing thinking about themes rather than plots,” Parker explains. “This time I knew I wanted to write about love as a force of nature, and specifically about the phenomenon of love at first sight, which is what happened with my wife and me. I started wondering: what would be the worst possible time and place to suddenly fall crazy in love? Clearly the answer was your wedding day, so that became the initial inspiration for the story.”

As Parker was writing the opening scenes – focusing on the impending marriage between vivacious Rachel and her mild-mannered husband-to-be, Heck – he suddenly realized that the person who was about to make Rachel mad with bewildering feelings of connection was the wedding’s florist… who also happened to be a woman. Like Rachel, Parker decided to go with his gut instincts. In a very real sense, he decided that the gender of Rachel’s new love was, aside from being an unconventional twist for a romantic comedy, beside the point. It was the strength and conviction of Rachel’s feelings – even in the face of a myriad of questions raised in regards to what she should do about them – that made the story so interesting to him.

“I really wanted to write the script in such a way that, although there’s a same-sex love story involved, an audience of my parents and their friends would enjoy it,” notes Parker. Spiced with Parker’s trademark style of verbal wit and droll observations of modern behavior, the script for IMAGINE ME & YOU quickly won over British producer Sophie Balhetchet. She recalls that she simply couldn’t put the screenplay down. “It was funny and touching and the premise was so intriguing: if you experience love at first sight and you are in another relationship what do you do? Do you act upon it or turn your back on it? It’s such an enormous force,” says Balhetchet, “so do you dare to let it pass? And, if not, can you bear to hurt someone you also love?”

Balhetchet continues: “The script looked at these timeless questions with a new twist that gave the story a complexity within the romantic comedy genre that I thought was particularly original. The character of Rachel has come to one of those junctures in life where you know you can no longer go back to the way you were before, however much you might want to; and, in a very real sense, it is suddenly upon you to decide if you are going to live your life truthfully.” As for the relationship between Rachel and Luce, Balhetchet found it more moving and charming than controversial. “It’s really to do with the quality of the connection between them and not their genders,” she observes. “In that way, the fact that they are two women really seemed by the by.”

Producer Andro Steinborn vividly recalls his first encounter with the screenplay. “I remember reading the script sitting in a busy café in the center of Berlin, frequently laughing out loud and also hiding a tear here and there,” he says. “I was taken by the tone, by the love story between the two women, by the brilliant, funny dialogue and most of all by the structure which never wasted a thought. The twist of the same-sex love story was almost incidental but it gave the story spice and made it different from other romantic comedies.”

The buoyant humor and trenchant humanity of Parker’s writing also drew producer Barnaby Thompson’s eye. “One of the great things about the script was that it fleshes out all these wonderful characters so well that you feel like you know them,” he says. “They’re very real and at the same time their situations and dialogue are quite humorous. What emerged for me was a story that seems more heartfelt than most romantic comedies. I think Ol has created a romance that is equal parts comedy and proper human story.”

From the beginning, Parker had hoped he would gain the chance to direct the comic love story he had written – in the exuberant modern style in which he had imagined it — but he knew it would require a production team willing to take a risk on a first-timer. Balhetchet, Thompson and Steinborn were thrilled to give him that opportunity. Says Steinborn: “Anyone who can write a script that is so much to the point I felt would be able to direct it. When I met Ol in London I was positively surprised to find such an immensely talented, sensitive, and at the same time, cool guy about my age. We connected instantly and I knew he was the right person.”

Adds Balhetchet: “As soon as I met Ol there was an immediate degree of trust, and I had an instinctive feeling that he would be able, better than anyone else, to carry his vision of the story to the screen. There was never a moment’s doubt that he could do it.”

The Bride and Groom: Casting Piper Perabo and Matthew Goode

The central love story in IMAGINE ME & YOU begins with Rachel, a young, beautifully vivacious, warm-hearted British bride — a sort of anti-Bridget Jones filled with optimism and joy who appears to have her life incredibly together. On her wedding day, Rachel couldn’t be any more sincere in her excitement at marrying her closest friend Heck. She’s the last person on earth who could imagine she would suddenly fall in love with a person other than the husband-to-be she so admires, which is why she is sent into a complete, if giddy, tailspin by her unexpected encounter with undeniable passion. Now, caught between her promise to Heck and her heart’s true desire, Rachel faces the most beguiling choice of her life.

From the beginning, Ol Parker knew he would need a very strong personality to play Rachel in a naturalistic way that would be funny and spunky yet also believable and sympathetic. What he didn’t expect is that he would wind up casting an American actress to play this ravishing British bride. Parker had enjoyed Piper Perabo’s previous performances in films he’d seen, but when he heard she was interested in auditioning for the role, he considered it a long shot.

“I knew Piper was smart and funny and beautiful – a rare combination and the one we wanted for Rachel – but I was adamant that I wasn’t going to rewrite the role,” recalls Parker. “Rachel had to be English, and she had to have a proper accent. We’ve had enough bad accents on the screen lately!”

Meanwhile, Perabo was fervent in her belief she could play the part as Parker had written it. “I had to fight for the chance to play this role,” says the actress. “But when I read the script, I fell in love with the writing. I felt that if it was that good on the page it would be even more special on screen. I have always loved British comedies– they’re the films I most want to see when I go to the movies – and Ol seemed to have captured all the best parts of the genre. The story’s very witty but at the same time, it’s quite sincere and emotional and you really care about every single one of the characters. That combination felt very exciting and rare.”

When Parker finally met Perabo in New York all his trepidation disappeared. Though her accent wasn’t yet perfected, it was clear that she was completely committed to bringing the part to life authentically. The director recalls: “I had talked to an accent coach before I went to meet Piper and she said ‘find out if she reads. If she reads, you’ll be fine.’ So we met, and we talked about books, and I quickly discovered she’d read far more than I had. I was really knocked out by her, she’s just so immensely charming and endearing, and I knew almost immediately she could do it.”

Adds producer Sophie Balhetchet: “Casting Piper was a great leap of faith for Ol, but she came through in an extraordinary way. On the set, no one even remembered that she is actually a New Jersey girl.”

Perabo worked extensively with voice coach Barbara Berkery to pull off the London accent seamlessly. “I found it really interesting to get into a character vocally,” Perabo says. “Barbara gave me lots of vocal exercises that I did each morning in my trailer. Lena and Matthew were also a great help to me in really getting the accent right.”

As she trained her vowels and consonants, Perabo also began probing the amusing but also heartwrenching predicament in which Rachel finds herself. “What makes Rachel so interesting is that her whole view of life is unravelled in just a few moments,” the actress says. “She has to try to navigate these feelings she’s never had before, and somehow try to do it without ruining other people’s lives. She and Heck are not a perfect match – she’s very spontaneous and fun and he’s very safe and sweet. But she does love him as a person, so it all becomes rather complicated.”

That Rachel falls head over heels for a woman made little difference to Perabo in how she approached the part. “To me, a great love story is a great love story, and it doesn’t matter what gender is involved,” she comments. “At heart, this story is really about two people who were meant to be together no matter the obstacles.”

Perabo was especially thrilled to reunite with actress Lena Headey with whom she starred in the action thriller THE CAVE. “I think the fact that we knew each other so well and were already friends made us very comfortable and open,” she observes. “It really played in our favour in making this love story work.”

With Perabo cast, Ol Parker found the endearing yet romantically doomed Heck in rising British star Matthew Goode, who recently appeared in CHASING LIBERTY with Mandy Moore and has a major role in Woody Allen’s MATCH POINT. Parker was drawn to Goode’s ability to appear highly sympathetic and likeable at the same time as being comically clueless as to what’s happening around him.

“Matt hammers the nails into his own coffin so charmingly that you laugh and cry and understand what he’s going through all at the same time. He’s an awesome talent,” summarizes the director.

Adds Sophie Balhetchet: “The thing that we held on to all the way through was Ol’s intention that the character of Heck should be neither an obvious loser nor a cad. It was important that the audience see that Heck is a lovely guy who, as he says, couldn’t believe his luck in getting Rachel. It’s almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy for poor Heck. Matthew’s skill as an actor is to convey both the character’s innocence and his ultimate emotional maturity. You feel he’ll be a lot wiser and happier in ten year’s time.”

Goode saw Heck’s predicament as one that’s distinctly familiar to any man who has ever endured loving a woman who, in turn, loved somebody else far more. “I think a lot of male audiences will identify all too well with Heck and what he goes through,” he observes. “Luckily, he’s not a jerk – on the contrary, he’s one of the really good guys out there. It’s just that he’s in the middle of this strange situation that’s entirely beyond his control.”

For Goode, the role offered a greater emotional range than he had previously explored. “I thought it would be good to do something challenging and this really was. It’s a very emotional role — being the man who is left behind,” he says.

Summarizes Andro Steinborn: “The role of Heck is crucial to the story. He holds the film together in that what happens to him, from a male perspective, could be the ultimate nightmare – your wife falls in love with another woman on your wedding day. He had to be very lovable, sympathetic, handsome and charming and yet only to the point that you wouldn’t completely fall for him. Matthew’s performance was perfect in that sense. He also brings a real grace to the character when he realizes he is up against an unstoppable force and chooses to move on in spite of his feelings.”

Ol Parker also found that, together, Matthew Goode and Piper Perabo had a wonderful kind of coarse chemistry that suited the promising but not-quite-flawless marriage between Heck and Rachel. He was impressed with how fully Goode threw himself into the role of a man who ultimately has his heart stomped upon, albeit not intentionally. “Heck is quite a tough part,” Parker notes. “There aren’t very many men who want to play someone who’s being abandoned in that way. But Matthew was fantastic and I was enormously thrilled with his performance. You truly like Heck but you also understand why Rachel has to leave him and that’s a very fine line to walk.”

The chance to star alongside Piper Perabo was especially exciting for Goode. “She is particularly beautiful and very sweet…She was simply wonderful to work with.”

Love At First Sight… At The Altar

The object of Rachel’s desire in IMAGINE ME & YOU turns out to be none other than her wedding’s florist, the spirited but entirely unexpected Luce, played by one of England’s brightest new stars, Lena Headey, who most recently was seen in THE BROTHERS GRIMM with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger.

Luce’s gifts go beyond her floral arrangements, as she plays a kind of constant therapist, advising those who come into her shop looking for flowers that will say just the right thing — be it love, hope or regret. But when Luce feels a frighteningly powerful spark with a newly married woman, the only advice she can give to herself is to lay low and stay out of it . . . or at least try.

Headey, who previously starred in LOVED UP, also written by Ol Parker, was once again attracted to his fresh, contemporary style of writing. “I loved the script immediately. Ol has this unusual ability to capture how people really talk in life and the story is as honest as it is funny. It doesn’t sacrifice any of the truth to also be a lot of fun,” she observes.

The journey of Luce – from a strong, independent woman reconciled to being alone to a woman who is suddenly overcome with mad, passionate love – also attracted Headey. “I think in the beginning both Luce and Rachel think they’re quite settled into who they will be in life. They’ve accepted their lot – and then along comes this moment when — pow! – something happens and flips it all every which way,” she says. “The interesting part is seeing how they work it all out.”

As for the notion of “love at first sight,” Headey believes it truly does happen, but that it’s entirely beyond rational explanation. “We’ve all had that moment where you look into someone’s eyes and there’s some kind of recognition there, whether you act on it or not,” she observes. “But what is that thing that we see? I don’t think we’ll ever really know, which is part of what makes it so beautiful.”

For Ol Parker, Headey’s performance captured some of that beauty as well as the humor of the character. “Lena is brilliant and hilarious,” he says. “I always loved the idea of this florist who is sort of like a road-side therapist because she’s involved in the most intimate moments of people’s lives – births, funerals, weddings. It’s a funny notion and Lena plays it so perfectly. Every time Luce is in her shop, you start to see further and further into her character.”

Sums up Sophie Balhetchet: “Lena is a natural actor for Ol’s style – there’s something about her tone that absolutely suits his writing. She has a mixture of strength and vulnerability that’s ideally suited to Luce and this story.”

These production notes provided by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Imagine Me & You

Starring: Piper Perabo, Lena Headey, Matthew Goode, Celia Imrie, Eva Birthistle
Directed by: Ol Parker
Screenplay by: Ol Parker
Release Date: January 26, 2006
Running Time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for some language and sexual material.
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Box Office Totals

Domestic: $672,243 (27.4%)
Foreign: $1,783,588 (72.6%)
Total: $2,455,831 (Worldwide)