Posted in: Interview, Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: lionsgate, patrick j. adams, Young Werther

Young Werther: Patrick J Adams on Making Most of Rom-Com Opportunity

Patrick J. Adams (Suits) spoke to Bleeding Cool about his latest rom-com in Lionsgate's Young Werther, Alison Pill, Scott Thompson & more.

Patrick J Adams has built quite an impressive filmography as a dependable on-screen presence since his debut in 2001's For the Record. He became a regular presence on episodic television, including guest appearances on Cold Case, Numb3rs, Commander in Chief, Friday Night Lives, Without a Trace, Lost, NCIS, Ghost Whisperer, and Pretty Little Liars, before landing his big break on the Aaron Korsh legal drama series Suits on USA, appearing in seven of the nine seasons. As the franchise moves to NBC with the spinoff series Suits L.A., Adams continues to embrace the opportunities elsewhere, including memorable roles on Disney+ series The Right Stuff and Prime Video's A League of Their Own. His latest is the José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço romantic comedy Young Werther. Based on the 18th-century novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the Lourenço film updates the tale to the 21st century that follows the title character (Douglas Booth), a carefree writer who pursues a relationship with Charlotte (Alison Pill), who's engaged to Albert (Adams) in Toronto. Adams spoke to Bleeding Cool about what drew him to the Lourenço film, his chemistry with Pill, and working with costars Iris Apatow (Unstable) and Scott Thompson (The Kids in the Hall).

Young Werther Star Patrick J. Adams on Being at the Other End of a Rom-Com

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'Young Werther?'

So many things. First, my dear friend Natalie [Urquhart] was one of the film producers, and she sent me the script and told me, "You should read this," and I gave it a read and couldn't put it down. The point of view, tone, sense of humor, and story were so compelling, and I never heard of this book that it was based on. I thought that was interesting. Usually, we hear of the source material because it's always quite famous, and I thought it was the first time I'd read something where I've never heard of the source material [from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe].

I looked into that, and then I got to meet José, who wrote and directed it, and I immediately fell deeply in love with him. He's such a [creative] force, so positive, and had such a vision for this story. I found out who [else] was involved with Alison [Pill], Doug [Booth], and [Nick Haight], a dear friend of mine who is also going to be the director of photography on it. It was like a perfect storm; everyone involved was somebody I wanted to work with.

From the point of view of the character, I had never seen anything quite like Albert before, who ran the risk of it being quite dull, he was such a nice guy and in the hands of any other director, would not have felt like that maybe it was not interesting enough. There was something about this film's tone and the fact that he was this perfect foil to Werther because he was so kind and didn't fit into the standard box of a competitor Werther would have wanted. That's what makes him so hard to compete with, and I thought, "That's interesting. I'd never really seen that before." You never know if it's going to work if it's interesting enough, but it was worth the are worth the risk to go and work with these wonderful people and give it a shot.

Were you always penciled in for Albert, or did you also read for Werther as well?

No, I never read for Werther. I think they always thought of me as Albert. They had Doug cast already and everybody else sorted out, and they were looking for their Albert. I got to meet with José on Zoom, and what was supposed to be a ten-minute chat turned into an hour. Afterward, it was like, "Let's go! Let's do this!"

Did you familiarize yourself with the book, or did you work off the script?

José was happy to explain the book to me, but he certainly did not expect for anybody to read it. His passion for the story and why it was a fun story to tell now, and in the manner he was telling, was what mattered. Listening to him talk about it was the most important thing. Yeah, thank God, there was no expectation because I would have had a tough time with two small children, finding the quiet time to sit down and read a book from the late 18th century.

What's it like working with Alison and how did you guys both develop chemistry as Albert and Charlotte?

She's the best. I wish I could say it's some "great acting challenge," but the truth is when you work with someone like Alison who's prepared, present, available, ready to go, comes in with ideas, and has the skill and the talent to pivot and try something new throwing in a new idea, it's just play, right? It's not "work" anymore. I don't remember us consciously making any decisions like, "Well, I think it's this or that." It's not even that heady. It's just like, show up, try things, see what works, and how do we connect. It felt easy and fun to me, and it left me wanting more. I was like, "I want to do more scenes." My only problem was that we didn't get enough to do.

Did you have a favorite sequence for your character in the film? I imagine probably the hunting ones…

The hunting was great, and the shotgun scene was fun to shoot, especially because Doug is so funny. I remember that day on set when we were shooting; Doug was under the tree for the opening sequence we came back to at the end. That was remarkable. It was one of those days on set when that location was so beautiful in the film. When you're there, you're like, "Where are we?" And you're like, "Down by this tree in the middle of nowhere, and it's muddy over there." The crew's standing over there, and you're like, "What are we doing? Like, is this working?"

Suddenly, everything gets quiet, and the camera pushes in on Doug talking on that phone. It was one of those moments on a set where, like, everything falls into place, and you go, "This is pretty cool what we do for a living!" We're out here worried about ticks. It's hot, some mud, and someone fell in the water, whatever. All these things going on, the chaos of it, then you see that beautiful scene in the film, you could feel it, and Doug's performance on the day. Even though I wasn't in that sequence until the end, it was remarkable to watch.

What can you say about your other costars like Iris or Scott, what they brought to the film?

As a Canadian, it was a big deal for me to sit with Scott. At the end of the film, there was the scene when we were at [clears throat] the big event. Scott was there, and it was late at night. I got to sit with Scott for hours, ask him questions, and talk about his experience in 'The Kids in the Hall.' Iris was wonderful. It's always great to have someone as young on set, and she has so much energy, enthusiastic, and hilarious. Those two that you had with Doug, Alison, Iris, and Scott were a full deck of cards and a great group of people. To top that off, you have a wonderful director like José leading us.

How do you compare 'Young Werther' to Your Previous Work? On brand? Derivative?

Yeah, it is a little on-brand in that it felt like a natural progression for me to play a nice, good boy you'd want to bring home to Mom. I don't know what my brand is, but it feels like that's probably close to it. Again, maybe in another world, that would be like, "I don't want to do this again," or "I've done this enough. I want to be someone more complex." I certainly have those yearnings to want to do that stuff. Life's short, careers aren't long, and you don't get the opportunity to work with great people all the time.

Any ego I might have about any of that or fear that it's not enough was assuaged by this group of people I get to go work with and make something fun with great people. It's rare. You talk to enough people; it's hard to get a lot of cool people on a set who are all singular in their vision, kind, compassionate, and creative without any ego. When you get the opportunity to do that, I take it.

Young Werther is in theaters, digital, and on-demand.

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