Lola’s erstwhile fiance, Luke, is a handsome and sensitive visual artist who is preparing for a prestigious solo show of his paintings based on images from celebrity sex tapes. Luke is played by Joel Kinnaman, the Swedish actor best known for his breakout role in AMC’s hit series “The Killing.” He was recently featured in SAFE HOUSE, with Denzel Washington, and David Fincher’s THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and will star in the upcoming ROBOCOP reboot. Kinnaman manages to keep the character sympathetic even after he dumps Lola.
“It was a tough character to write,” says Lister-Jones. “We made no black-and-white distinction between hero and villain. He had to be someone the audience could get behind. Joel is the sexiest man alive, which helps. He also refuses to apologize for Luke’s flaws, which is a brave thing for an actor to do. Joel plays Luke as a thoughtful guy who realizes he can’t marry Lola right now, even though it would have been much easier to just go along with the plan.”
Kinnaman brought his own strong opinions about the character to the set. “I based Luke first on my intuitions,” the actor says. “He is a good person with a big heart. His actions are both selfish and also selfless. Unfortunately, he is stuck being the adult and making the difficult decision. Daryl added his own touches. He is both very opinionated and very relaxed. He’s got good taste for both comedy and style and a really good ear.”
The actor says he also found himself caught up in Gerwig’s distinctive style of playing. “Greta has a very special, natural comedic energy around her that is just wonderful to watch. She is unique as an actress. She remains very natural while making big, bold choices, and I rolled with that, which was fun.”
Lola’s perennially single but always hopeful girlfriend Alice was conceived with Lister- Jones in mind, a rising talent who stars on the television series “Whitney.” “Daryl and Zoe always wanted her to play Alice,” says London. “She is the quintessential best friend and comic foil, and she runs away with almost every scene she’s in.”
Alice’s romantic misadventures represent the worst-and sometimes the funniest-of what Lister-Jones discovered during her year as a single woman. “Her expectations have been depleted over the years,” she explains. “She gets excited when the breakup brings her friend back to her and she has a wing woman again. They start going out to clubs, partying, finding dudes to have sex with. That’s a good solution, right? And she copes with the disappointment and anxiety by telling herself things like, ‘maybe I’ll adopt a foreign baby like all of the movie stars.”
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