Meg Ryan’s New Movie Is a Rom-Com for Fans of ‘The Golden Bachelor’

“My character, Willa, is a magical thinker and David’s character, Bill, is a catastrophic thinker,” she added. “These rom-coms really work when the two characters are somehow opposites and yet have a rhythm of intellect and humor and dialogue and banter that sort of indicates their compatibility. So it’s just been really fun to see David embrace this guy who I don’t think is anything really like David. Whereas the Willa thing I can really relate to. To see him dive into every single scene in the fullest way, he’s funny, and he’s smart, and he’s dear, and irresistible.”

Ryan told The New York Times that she didn’t make the movie as any kind of “comeback” but because she was genuinely interested in its themes: “It took me this long to have something to say,” she sayd. “My interest in this movie isn’t about Hollywood’s perception of me. I’m not interested in controlling that. I don’t think I can…. [It’s about] Do you think about the One—what would happen if I ever saw him or her, after all this time? What would we say to each other? Will we forgive?”

For Duchovny, there was something interesting in a rom-com about people in middle age: “There’s something in us that gets angry when we see people who are old hoping, you know?” he said in the same article. “That’s the resistance that we push against in the movie. But lo and behold, we have The Golden Bachelor now to show us the way.”

When will What Happens Later premiere?

What Happens Later is headed to theaters Friday, November 3.

This post may be updated.