1 of 4 | Joel Courtney and Bailee Madison star in “40 Dates and 40 Nights,” in theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of Brainstorm Media
Joel Courtney said his bickering with leading lady Bailee Madison in 40 Dates and 40 Nights, in theaters Friday and digital video-on-demand Tuesday, shows their intense connection.
Madison plays Leah, a single woman who agrees to her grandmother Gigi’s (Annie Potts) proposal to go on 40 dates. If none of them are a match Gigi will pay Leah’s rent for a year.
Courtney plays Mason, date No. 20 with whom she already had an awkward encounter at the pharmacy. In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Courtney, 30, said the bickering part of the romantic comedy lays the foundation for a stronger connection.
“The passion of’ I can’t stand you’ is you have a strong connection to this person, though it’s perceived negative,” Courtney said. “If it turns positive, that strong connection becomes very, very connected.”
The actor acknowledged the tried and true rom-com formula of feuding singles who ultimately get together. He said the feuding scenes were “so fun to play.”
“You gotta earn the journey,” Courtney said. “You’ve got to show the entire trajectory of these characters and the relationship and everything they go through.”
Gigi’s proposal may also inspire viewers struggling in the modern dating world. Though Leah finds her dates on dating apps, Gigi forces her to meet 40 of them.
“I like the Gigi plan,” Courtney said. “I feel like it might start trending.”
Courtney recalls that before dating apps, single people would “go out to bars and run into the most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen and be like, ‘I will never see her again, and if I don’t talk to her right now, I will never get the chance to. So I’m going to.'”
Even that is more challenging now that people carry their phones with them everywhere. Instead of striking up conversations with strangers, people entertain themselves.
“I’ve got an audiobook playing,” Courtney said. “I’ve got a podcast playing in the background. I’m very guilty of that. It’s good and it’s important to unplug and allow stimulus to come in naturally.”
The romantic-comedy genre has recurred in Courtney’s career. He starred in the three Kissing Booth films for Netflix.
“It was one character,” Courtney said. “We just had so much love and support on that first one that we got to come back and do it again twice more.”
Courtney made his debut at 14 in the science-fiction period piece Super 8. The actor still recalls writer/director J.J. Abrams guiding him and his young co-stars through his first movie role.
“J.J. Abrams [was] so patient with a bunch of kids and just like guiding us through the circumstances of the story and where we’re at and what’s needed and getting us to an emotional place,” Courtney recalled.
Roles have allowed Courtney to grow up on screen, with Mason being in his late 20s. Last year’s Soul on Fire even allowed him to play a tad older.
“I had gray in my hair and they had me really aged up,” Courtney said. “How does my character move younger, how do they hold themselves when they’re maybe a little older energy? Upper 30s is different than 22.”
The task with 40 Dates and 40 Nights was decidedly lighter, Courtney said.
“We just get to live in this fun world and really experience this journey of these two characters,” Courtney said, adding that the film explores “how they end up processing things, how they can support each other and show empathy and grow.”
