IT’S always tough to make a decision, one which will determine your future.
For high schoolers who are at a crossroads, they need to decide their next chapter in their lives.
Netflix’s latest teen rom-com series, The Last Summer, will surely appeal to millennials across the globe.
The Last Summer is a coming-of-age film featuring several inter-secting stories that follow a group of recent high school graduates as they navigate their way through their final summer before going to college.
As the youths wrestle with love lost and found, form friendships in unexpected circumstances, and take greater control in their relationships with parents, they ultimately decide who they will be and what they will do as they stand on the precipice of adulthood.
Directed by William Bindley, who also co-wrote the screenplay along with his brother, Scott, The Last Summer stars K.J. Apa, Maia Mitchell, Jacob Latimore, Halston Sage, Sosie Bacon, Wolfgang Novogratz, Gabrielle Anwar, Ed Quinn, Jacob McCarthy, Mario Revolori, Gage Golightly, Norman Johnson Jr. and Tyler Posey.
The film was shot over 28 days, 27 in Cleveland and one long day at Wrigley Field in Chicago where the story is set.
At the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, Apa, Mitchell, Latimore, Sage, Novogratz and Posey sat down with the Press for an interview about how they relate to the characters and challenges faced by the teenagers nowadays.
In the film, Apa, who plays Archie Andrews in the hit TV show Riverdale, stars as musically inclined Griffin. Mitchell, who appeared in The Fosters and the spin-off series Good Trouble, stars as Phoebe, a driven young filmmaker.
The pair are classmates who reconnect and begin a romance after years of not talking.
Sage plays Erin who broke up with Alec (Latimore) before going out with Ricky (Posey), who is fondly remembered for his role as Scott McCall in Teen Wolf.
Novogratz plays Foster who draws of list of dates hoping to lose his virginity.
Apa and Mitchell, who are originally from New Zealand and Australia, said they had great chemistry. “We were billeted in a hotel so we became close. We had pre-production fittings and all that,” Mitchell said.
KJ added: “We hung out at our hotel lounge and shared beer, cookies and endless serving of beef jerky. We had fun not only on screen but off-screen as well.”
Latimore and Novogratz said they bonded a lot while filming too.
“We were at a hotel that was connected to the Cleveland Cavaliers stadium so we got a chance to watch the finals. Steph Curry was in our hotel,” Latimore shared.
Wolfgang said, “It was my first time in Cleveland. We were there five weeks altogether… We tried to pack in as much as possible. We went to Cedar Point which was like the biggest amusement park in the Midwest. We also went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the Cleveland Indians baseball game. We did a lot of stuff. It was really fun.”
Both Apa and Mitchell said they can relate to the hardship their characters face in the movie when they were at that age.
“I was working on a TV show when I was in high school, so, Ihad to decide if I was going to stick it out or leave high school and pursue acting. It was an anxious moment in my life,” Apa said.
Mitchell agreed, saying there is a lot of pressure on young people at that age.
“They have figure out and know what exactly they are doing and where they are headed. It was not a time in their life to know all that. I can absolutely relate to all that. Like KJ, I chose to leave high school and pursue opportunities that came my way.”
“I chose to stick with my gut, what I felt was right for me,” she said.
Mitchell added The Last Summer also highlights authenticity. “The most important thing to take from this movie is that everyone’s doing their own thing and is on their own journey.
“And that’s okay. Be strong in yourself and your own journey and identity,” she said.
PRESSURE ON HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
The director and cast all agreed that there is more pressure on high school graduates now.
William said that years ago, young people wouldn’t know what they were planning to do with their lives until after college.
But now it feels like kids have to figure out their future so much earlier.
Sage, whose sister graduated high school last year said, said there is a lot of pressure on high schoolers to have their futures planned out.
“My sister just graduated high school last year. I recently saw her going through the same dilemma. It’s unfortunate because that’s such a young age to be faced with such lifelong decisions,” she added.
Posey adds that it’s all about how you look at it. “It’s hard growing up. It’s hard being a kid no matter what generation you are at,” he said.
Novogratz notes that the term “quarter-life crisis” only came about a couple of years ago.
“The difference between this generation and past is social media. It’s not just celebrities who look like they have perfect lives. It’s people that you’re friends with. Everybody’s the perfect boyfriend, the perfect husband, the perfect everything on social media… And you feel crappy by yourself,” he said.
FINE BALANCE OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA
The stars also shared their views on how they use social media and how they find a balance using the tool.
Acknowledging social media can help to connect with people and promote projects, Sage said it is challenging to find a fine balance.
“Social media can be amazing. But it can also be challenging because it’s a very fine balance of wanting to connect with people and being able to promote projects that you’re a part of, or a cause that is really close to your heart.
“It’s tricky because you are an actor, and you want to make sure that you have privacy and not have someone say ‘Oh, I know what she had for dinner last night’,” said Sage.
Latimore added: “It does get a little tough. As an tartiste and a musician, you have to put yourself out there a little more… but there’s a certain mystique you want to have too because you don’t know what producers are paying attention to on your social media.”
Posey revealed that he started to use Instagram when he played Scott McCall in Teen Wolf.
“At that point, I still don’t really know how to promote myself, so I didn’t use it for that… I thought it was cool to have a visual picture diary.
“But I think there are some really wrong things with social media and the whole liking scale. In fact, I delete stuff off my phone every now and then because I have to step away from this.
Mitchell said she only used social media when she needed to. “I don’t spend much time on it. I log on to my public social media, and I post when I need to, and then I log out of it and go on another one that I have with just my friends. You come to compartmentalise it.”
KJ added: “I don’t put a lot of effort into my social media. I just like to be myself and I post for my friends back in New Zealand. A lot of the time, I want to make them laugh. I just think authenticity is great. All the accounts that I like to follow are people being authentic and being themselves.”