BB Exclusive: Rose Reid Opens Up About Finding You, Ireland, & More With BB
BeautifulBallad had the amazing opportunity to chat with Rose Reid, star of the upcoming romance comedy Finding You. The young actress stars as the film’s leading lady, violinist Finley Sinclair, who travels to Ireland in hopes of find herself and her most, but finds something else instead.
On playing the violin in the film: “I actually played the violin a little bit when I was younger, just enough to basically be bad at it. But when I first got attached to this film, I knew that I was going to have to play, and I figured that it would be okay and that I could kind of like fake it till I made it. But unfortunately, or fortunately for the film, Brian, the director, Brian Baugh, had these gorgeous compositions and pieces that he wanted to include, and they were really going to make the film. So I knew that I had to do them justice. And I actually hired a violin coach who worked with me for three months, and we drilled these songs over and over and over.
And she was absolutely incredible. Her name is Dayna Osan, and she is an amazing Fiddler here in Nashville. And so it was incredible to be able to learn from her. And we kind of did things backwards instead of learning to play the violin for sound. We learned to play it for looks and for aesthetic and appearance, but it ended up being so beautiful, and I’m so glad I did it. And I’m so glad that we were able to do that. I hope that we did the instrument justice, but we’ll see in a few days.”
On being influenced by Irish musicians, specifically Irish buskers: “There’s a street in Dublin called Grafton street, and it is full of Irish buskers. So people… mostly fiddlers playing and really Jed [Goodacre] and I would walk through that street and walk down that street and we would listen to the beautiful music that was played and get to experience the feeling of Ireland there. And that really did influence, a lot of my movements and a lot of how Brian wanted to portray the instrument, and it was so influential being able to see kind of the birthplace of fiddle.”
On the difficulties of bring Finley to life: Finley is such a complex character, and it was really difficult to be able to weave all of these storylines and all of these intricate layers into her character. She’s not just dealing with one problem. She’s dealing with so much. She’s dealing with anxiety, disappointment, the loss of her brother. She’s also dealing with a lot of fear about her upcoming audition. And then, she has her relationship with Beckett and her relationship with Mrs. Sweeney. And so Brian and I spent hours working on her character development and how we wanted her to come across. And I think it turned out really beautiful in the film. And I really loved how you see Finley kind of open up near the end of the film. And I think that I would love audiences to be able to walk away having that kind of sense of freedom and that sense of openness that Finley ends up with.”
On filming with Vanessa Redgrave: Vanessa was wow. She’s a legend, of course. So it was humbling and so intimidating to walk into a room with her. I’m so honored to have even been in the same vicinity as her, in the same country as her. So it was really intimidating working with her, but she also was so kind and so understanding and very willing to help, very willing to give advice and to kind of help lead me along. And so there are a lot of scenes that I have with her, and I was so proud of them and so proud that I got to work with her and have all of the information that I gleaned from being around her. I truly do feel so honored to have been a part of that process.
On a piece of advice Redgrave gave her on their first day of filming together: “She, at one point, I remember there was a scene that we did that was a heavier scene between her and Finley. And after one take of the scene, it was our first day together, I was really uncomfortable. I was very self-conscious and she kind of pulled me aside after the take, and we were about to roll again, and she pulled me aside, and she said, ‘Okay, that was great, but it’s not going to be perfect until you believe it and until you believe that it’s perfect.’ Until you believe in yourself basically. And I thought that that was so sweet and it was really memorable to me. And I think that that advice really stands in a lot of areas of life, not just acting.”
On working with her leading man, Jedidiah Goodacre “Jed was by far one of the funniest people I’ve ever been around. He was a comedian for sure. And always managed to lift my spirits no matter what was going on. And we filmed together for so long, and I think we really became friends after it. And he was also just such an incredible athlete and was so entertaining because he would just be walking around on his hands on set, or… he was a crazy athlete and so talented, really that guy so talented. And I couldn’t say enough good things about him.”
On developing a wonderful relationship with Saoirse-Monica Jackson: “Finley and Emma have such a deep care for one another. And like you said, they’re such opposites, but I think that’s what’s so fun about it. Saoirse-Monica Jackson is also so talented, really just an incredible actress. And she’s so funny too. She’s a great… or she’s great with improv. She’s great with just riffing, and that was so much fun. It was so easy to be around her. And we would go out to pubs with her after and go get drinks, or whatever. And she was so easy to be around, so much fun. I still talked to her to this day because she’s just such a joy to be around. And I think she’s so underrated, and I can’t wait for her to shoot to the moon and all of her success that she’s about to enjoy. I’m so excited for her.
On the best part of filming in Ireland: “I think I have to say the people. When you go into a pub in Ireland, you feel like you’re part of a family already. You walk in, and you’re one of the guys or you’re one of the girls or you’re one of the friends there. And I remember there was this, I’m sure, Jed probably told you this, if you’ve already spoken to him. But there was this pub that we filmed in for the most part. And the owner of the pub was just so much fun and cared about us so much and appreciated us so much that he actually stood up on a table at one point during the night and was like, ‘You know what? I love you all so much. I’ve made such a great connection with you. Food’s on me. Drinks on me. Shut the place down, just be out of here by 8:00 AM, have a great night.’ And that man partied with us until 8:00 AM. We danced and had fun with Irish music, and it was the most Irish experience. And I will never be able to express how much joy there was in that moment with Jed, Saoirse, the whole cast, the whole crew, being able to dance. Jed and I kind of joked that that was our big wrap party. We did have a wrap party at the end of the film, but that was our big wrap party. That was the most magical moment of the entire film.”
On the most difficult part of bringing to this film to life: “I think the scariest part was definitely the violin. It’s such a complex instrument, and there are so many people out there who love this instrument and really respect this instrument. And there are actually people dedicated on YouTube to calling out film actresses that don’t know how to play. And I remember there’s one in particular that I won’t even mention the name of, but I love them, and I still watch their YouTube show. But Brian and I actually talked about it in the beginning, and we were like, ‘Okay, this is our audience. We have to fool these guys, and we have to make these guys think I know how to play the violin.’ And so that’s was definitely the most difficult part, but my violin coach and I worked so so so long on it. And I think we really put in the hours, and I hope that she’s happy with it when it comes out. And I hope that the people who do know how to play, that real violinists watch this and they don’t feel like I butchered the instrument.”
On why fans should check out the film: “I think fans should watch this movie because it’s such a timely movie. We’ve come out of this very dark time in our recent history, and we’re all kind of battling with some of our own demons that we’ve been kind of struggling with over the past year or so. Maybe it’s time to get out and be able to travel to Ireland. In this fun, upbeat, exciting, adventurous, romantic story where Finley gets to fall in love with Beckett and with Ireland, she also gets to fall in love with herself and with music. And it’s just such a beautiful story, that I think the world could really use right now. And I know that when I got to see it, I felt like I had gone back in time to when we didn’t really think about quarantine. We didn’t think about masks. We didn’t think about COVID and all of the troubles and dangers that came with it. And I think that this film is such a beautiful escape.”
Finding You hits theaters tomorrow, May 14.
Photo Credit: Anthony Courtney/Courtesy of Roadside Attractions
*Edited for clarity