Tiffany Paulsen believes in love. It’s no surprise, really, considering she has forged herself a career as a romantic comedy writer. Most recently, she wrote and executive produced the 2020 Netflix romantic comedy Holidate, starring Emma Roberts, Luke Bracey, and Kristin Chenoweth. Up next, per Deadline, Paulsen will pen the script for New Line’s YA romance adaptation of The Distance from Me to You, with Sabrina Carpenter attached to star. Among other things, she is set to direct Sweethearts Bay, an original romantic mystery that Paulsen also wrote. “The directive of my life is believing in love and romance and the happy ending,” she says in our exclusive phone interview.
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We’re talking about believing in love as it relates to Paulsen’s latest film About Fate, which follows Margot (Roberts) and Griffin (Thomas Mann), who, more than anything, believe in true love. They meet on the same fateful evening that each of their marriage proposals don’t turn out as they had initially hoped: Griffin’s girlfriend Clementine (Madeleine Petsch) accepts his proposal, but, instead of being overjoyed, suggests that he re-propose at their lavish party the following day (she’s an influencer, after all); meanwhile, Margot, believing all along that Kip (Lewis Tan) has been planning to propose to her, ends up getting dumped. Through the course of a New Year’s Eve night together, during which Griffin pretends to be Kip at Margot’s sister’s wedding, they ultimately discover that the real love they’ve been looking for is nearer than they think.
It was ultimately Paulsen’s work on Holidate that inspired the team behind About Fate to bring her in for the project. “[They loved my work], and I think we were all hoping and dreaming that we could get Emma excited about doing this movie,” she says. “From the first month that I sat down with [director Marius Vaysberg] and the producers, and told them what I would do with the movie and the story, it was all about writing something Emma would respond to and want to do, and be excited about.”
Paulsen Says Emma Roberts is Her Muse
Between Johnny Depp and Tim Burton Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese, and Robert De Niro and Scorsese, there have been many instances of frequent actor-director duos coming together for a film. About Fate is no different, as it marks the third time that Roberts and Paulsen have teamed up for a movie, the first being 2007’s Nancy Drew, followed by Holidate in 2020. “Emma is definitely my muse,” Paulsen says. “So much of me ends up in characters that Emma is portraying, so I really do feel like her voice is my voice.” When asked if, thinking back to 2007, she ever imagined having the professional relationship that she does with Roberts, almost 20 years and three films later, Paulsen said, “No, of course not! It’s like a dream come true. I absolutely love her. I adore her. We continue to talk about what’s next.”
“I’ve been honored and thrilled to have had this professional relationship, but I’m lucky that I also get to call her my friend. Our lives have both grown, and now we both have little boys,” Paulsen continued (per TMZ, Roberts gave birth to son Rhodes with actor Garrett Hedlund in December 2021). “It’s amazing to me that I get to still be on this journey with [her], and we’re going to do [a fourth movie soon].”
Emma Roberts Brings Good Ideas to the Table
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One thing that Paulsen admires most about Roberts is the actress’ intelligence — “She’s a wicked smart person.” — and her ability to bring “good ideas to the table,” from suggestions about how to make specific moments more authentic to taking ownership of the character. For Paulsen, of course, this starts with a solid script. “I like to have a solid draft. I think actors can really respond [to a story] when they have a solid draft and get a real feeling of what the story is going to be.” Paulsen has certainly had experience in developing stories and scripts with actors and directors, but with About Fate, in particular, she “knew what I wanted to do with the script” before bringing it to Roberts.
What’s interesting is that, while Paulsen is a believer in love, she’s less absolute about fate. “I think that we do choose our own path, and, hopefully, the path that we choose brings us to where we’re supposed to be. I tend to think we get to where we [are], and then find meaning after [getting there].” And yet, with the kind of beautiful and successful creative partnership she shares with Roberts, one that continues with About Fate, which is a perfect blend of classic 90s romantic comedies and our modern attitudes and access to love, it does seem like fate after all.
About Fate is available in theaters on September 9, 2022.
