EXCLUSIVE: Clark Backo Opens Up About her New Movie, “I Want You Back”

Playing the pseduo villain in a rom-com is never an easy feat, but Clark Backo’s Ginny in I Want You Back shouldn’t be classified as a villain just yet. We got the chance to sit down with Backo to talk about her character in the new movie, working with the cast and so much more. Check out what she had to say below.

On whether or not she had met/worked with the cast before: “No, I didn’t know anyone. I knew that Manny [Jacinto] was Canadian, so I think I felt like I knew him for some reason because of that. But, apart from that, I was meeting everyone for the first time. I got to meet Jason [Orley], Charlie [Day], and Scott [Eastwood] in a rehearsal, before we started shooting. But, apart from that, I just got thrown in there and it was amazing, because everyone’s amazing.”

On the ingredients necessary to make a perfect romantic comedy: “It is the balance of understanding that comedy comes from intense vulnerability and insecurity and in this case, heartbreak. And just like he [Jason Orley] was saying, it’s never as satisfying of a laugh, if it doesn’t come from something that’s real and that we can all relate to, and that hurts. It’s the best laugh when you could cry, or laugh and it could really be either, but hopefully you do them at the same time. And from reading the script on the page, I laughed out loud, so many times, I’m sure my roommate was in the other room, like, ‘What is going on in there?’ And I come out with a tear, but I’m also laughing. That’s what it’s about.”

You can read the rest of our chat beneath the jump. I Want You Back premieres on Amazon Prime on February 11.

Photo credit: Amazon Studios

On if she ever saw herself doing a rom-com like this: “For me personally, I never envisioned myself being in this rom-com, maybe just because I never saw people like me in these types of rom-coms and to play somebody, where she’s just a person that isn’t villainized. Usually, in these stories, the new lover is somebody that we just all go, ‘Ugh, that person.’ But, there’s nothing you can say about Jenny that is bad. She’s just a standup girl and she’s very cool. She owns a damn business. Can’t say anything bad. So, I don’t know. Then, it’s just everything. Everything together, makes this an extraordinary script and an even more extraordinary movie now that it’s all come together with everyone.”

On whether or not she would show up to an ex’s wedding: “I’d say it depends, but probably. I feel, if they’re inviting me, there’s got to be a good reason, right?”

On her go-to karaoke song: “It’s never not, ‘Jolene’ by Dolly Parton. I got to, I have to.”

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity