Interview With "Letters To Juliet" Star Christopher Egan

First loves, second chances…but three’s a crowd in Letters To Juliet.

On a trip to Italy with her very-distracted fiancé, Sophie Hall (Amanda Seyfried) stumbles upon Juliet’s Wall, where people swarm to write letters to the star-crossed lover and post them on the wall. Staying until closing time, Sophie also discovers Juliet’s Secretaries who, after-hours, take the letters and write responses on Ms. Capulet’s behalf.

An aspiring writer herself, Sophie joins their efforts and pulls out an old, forgotten letter out of the wall from 1957. The letter tells of Claire’s tragic love story: she falls in love with an Italian named Lorenzo, but when he asks her to run away with him, she has sudden doubts and doesn’t go to meet him. Now, she faces deep regret and isn’t sure what to do.

After more than 50 years, Claire gets a response, when Sophie just has to write back. A few days later, Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) appears, along with her stubborn and unpleasant grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan), determined to set out and find Lorenzo once more. Sophie begs to come along on Claire’s quest, and so the adventure through Italy begins…for all three of them.

Faze caught up with Australian-born star Christopher Egan, to talk about his adventure making this great film.

Faze: What was the best thing about being on set for this film?

Christopher Egan: We were so lucky, we had such a great cast; we got along like a family and I think the fact that we were shooting in order as well and we really did feel like we were going on that road trip together, you know, and growing and getting to know each other as we moved through Italy.

FZ: In the movie you play Charlie, the “unpleasant grandson.” What do you think makes him so resistant to the journey that the two girls are very much ready for?

CE: Well, I really enjoyed playing him because I think there’s a deeper aspect to it that really is the love that Charlie has for his grandmother which makes him so protective and quite unpleasant to Sophie.

But I also think that he doesn’t expect the person responsible for writing this letter to be so attractive as well. So it’s just a really bad combination to him because he’s pretty old school… [The] loss of his parents and that pain create such a strong bond between him and his grandmother, [so if there’s anything] that could threaten her happiness or health, [his anger] sort of flares out.

But I think that’s the beautiful thing of the journey for Charlie is the shedding of his layers and actually seeing a bit more to life and love–that you really can find true love.

FZ: I know some actors have trouble watching themselves on screen. Is it something you enjoy after the movie is complete?

CE: Well, I think the first time you watch it you kind of just…your mouth is dropped and you’re just [*laughs*], seeing it put all together the first time. But over time, I think, as you just watch something more and more and more, of yourself, it becomes harder because you start seeing little things that you might have done differently, so you just have to stop before you start becoming ultra- critical.