Glen, Sydney and Natasha and ‘You’
NEW YORK – If music is the food of love, then “Unwritten” is a whole feast.
Natasha Bedingfield’s 2004 hit plays a prominent role in “Anyone But You” (in theaters), a new romantic comedy starring Sydney Sweeney (HBO’s “Euphoria”) and Glen Powell (“Top Gun: Maverick”) as ex-flames who begrudgingly reconnect at a wedding in Australia. After falling off a boat in shark-infested waters, Bea (Sweeney) and Ben (Powell) sing the earworm to help calm each other down as they wait to be rescued. They later belt Bedingfield everywhere from a mountaintop to a helicopter to the Sydney Opera House.
The new movie is directed by Will Gluck (“Easy A” with Emma Stone) and is loosely adapted from William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” The film has caused a stir on social media, thanks to steamy photos and flirty comments that sparked speculation about a romance on set, which both actors have repeatedly denied.
Powell, 35, and Sweeney, 26, tell USA TODAY about spider bites, frenzied fans and more.
Question: Glen, when you were starting in Hollywood, could you have ever imagined you’d one day be naked on a mountain in Australia singing Natasha Bedingfield?
Sydney Sweeney: He actually asked for it. It was part of his dream.
Glen Powell: It’s the reason I did it. I said, “Someday, that’s exactly where I’m going to be.” No, that was one scene that I knew was going to be a trip to film. Stripping down naked on a cliffside is already a liability, but to do it with a live spider next to you is (something else).
Sydney, you actually were bitten by that Huntsman spider, right?
Sweeney: Yeah, it hurt really bad. We were filming the scene when it bit me, so I’m screaming and no one’s calling, “Cut!” They’re just watching me and I’m like, “No, it’s actually biting me!” Everyone was like, “Wow, she’s making a really dramatic, serious choice in this comedy scene,” and then Glen finally was like, “Uh, wait. I think this is serious.”
Powell: You could hear from the tone of your voice that something flipped. There’s a difference between a movie scream and real pain.
Sweeney: I had two little bite marks for a really long time after.
Between “Unwritten” and “Pocketful of Sunshine” in “Easy A,” director Will Gluck really has a thing for early 2000s Natasha Bedingfield. Did you ever unpack that with him?
Sweeney: Right? We thought it was a joke at first. Will said, “Hey, learn the words to ‘Unwritten,’ ” and we were like, “Yeah, OK.” And then on Day 1 of shooting, he’s like, “All right, cool, let’s sing it a cappella.”
Powell: It was a nightmare, where you wake up and you’re like, “Yeah, I had to sing in front of a bunch of strangers the hardest song that you could ever possibly sing.” But now on Spotify Wrapped, it’s our most-played song of 2023. I’m just hoping that whenever “Unwritten” comes on at weddings, everyone thinks of this movie.
What kinds of guests are you at weddings?
Sweeney: We’re definitely the party. Although I go to the dessert table first and then the dance floor.
Powell: Sydney gets a sugar high. She chooses desserts, I choose tequila. But she’s a dancer, too. If you invite us to your wedding, we’ll make it fun.
Sydney, you’re shooting another movie (“Eden”) in Australia. Are you basically the official ambassador now?
Sweeney: I would love to be. I love Australia.
Powell: Australia loves you, too. People
in Australia lose their minds for Sydney. And she really embraced Australia. She went to a “footy” (football) game. It was the Sydney Swans, and pretty much every single one of them slid into her DMs. She’s the Miss Congeniality of Australia.
Did you ever witness anyone lose their mind over her?
Powell: We were walking down the street when a football game was getting out, and this giant crowd of young men was coming down the street. And you don’t want to put a bunch of young men in front of Sydney Sweeney – it’s just a rule of thumb. So she threw herself against a wall to get out of view, and some drunk guy goes, “Was that Sydney Sweeney?” So she jumped out of the shadows and took off down the street, and this drunk guy literally fell and knocked over his buddies. He was like, “Oh, my God!”
Sweeney: He probably just thought it was one of those hangover memories. Now he’ll see this interview and go, “That was her!”