Zoey and Zach’s first meeting in The Other Zoey is unconventional — but it already has Us seeing sparks.
In Us Weekly‘s exclusive clip from the upcoming film, which premieres in theaters on Friday, October 20, Zach (Drew Starkey) enters Zoey’s (Josephine Langford) life rather chaotically when he accidentally kicks a soccer ball in her face.
“Sorry! That was fully my fault. Are you OK?” Zach asks before checking Zoey for injuries. “That may leave a mark, do you want me to take you to the health center or something?”
Zoey — who questions love — isn’t impressed when she crosses paths with the popular jock. “You know the school has a soccer field, right?” she notes before Zach apologizes again.
Her friend Elle (Mallori Johnson) lightens the mood by quickly finding the humor in the situation, joking, “You just had Zach MacLaren’s ball in your face.”
The Other Zoey follows college student Zoey (Langford) after she ends up in a love triangle following a case of mistaken identity. She has to pretend to be Zach’s girlfriend — who is also named Zoey — when she causes an accident that makes him temporarily forget the last few weeks. Things get a bit more complicated when Zoey starts to wonder if his cousin Miles (Archie Renaux) is The One for her.
Ahead of the movie’s release, director Sara Zandieh exclusively opened up to Us about making the love triangle feel believable.
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“I think Zoey has chemistry with both Zach and Miles. And we just ensured that every scene with both actors was just really good and would lead you down that path,” she shared. “So I think it all is just in the great performances that Josephine, Drew and Archie gave. The performances within the scenes were just all so good. I think that’s what could lead you down both paths.”
The Other Zoey has already received an outpouring of support on social media because of its star-studded cast. Langford, 26, rose to stardom for her role as Tessa Young in the After film series. Starkey, 30, appeared in movies such as Love, Simon and The Hate U Give before developing a large fanbase due to his performance as Rafe Cameron on Netflix’s Outer Banks. Renaux, 25, stars as Mal in the streaming service’s Shadow and Bone series.
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According to Zandieh, the cast’s supporters were always on her mind.
“I think their fans were really excited to see [Josephine and Drew] try comedy,” she continued. “One of my favorite parts of directing is working with actors. They were just really great. They really played ball and were down to try things and improvise a little bit. I wasn’t worried because they’re both such strong actors.”
The Other Zoey premieres in theaters on October 20, and later on demand on November 10.
