Summary
Zara is the personal assistant of self-obsessed Hollywood star Chris Cole inA Family Affair. When she discovers a secret relationship between Chris and her mother, her world is turned upside down. Zara does everything she can to protect her mother, but she may have to accept that this isn’t a simple fling and stand aside so both her mother and her boss can find happiness.
A Family Affairfeatures a stackedcast led by Joey King, Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, and Kathy Bates bringing impeccable comedic timing, charming chemistry, and a heartfelt story of love and connection. Carrie Solomon penned the screenplay, taking inspiration from her own life, with Richard Lagravenese helming the movie as director. With the resurgence of popularity of romantic comedies,A Family Affairbrings together charismatic characters and a hilariously heartfelt story.
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Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron play love interests in the 2024 Netflix romantic comedy A Family Affair – how old are the two stars in real life?
Screen Rantinterviewed stars Joey King and Zac Efron about their newNetflix romcom,A Family Affair. Efron reflected on how he could have been like his character, Chris, had he made different choices and expressed his excitement about re-teaming with Kidman afterPaperboy. King broke down the relationship between her character and Efron’s as well as what she wanted to bring to her character beyond the page.
Zac Efron Says Chris' Life “Could Potentially Have Turned Out” To Be His Own
Both Solomon and Lagravenese took inspiration from experiences in their own lives and the lives of their friends when makingA Family Affair. King was quick to praise Solomon’s script, and she explained not only how she was able to connect with Zara, but what she wanted to bring of herself into this role.
Joey King: First of all, shout out to Carrie. She’s the best. What did I relate to with Zara? I see so much of myself in Zara. I am a hustler myself. I’ve been working for such a long time and I know what it feels like to have this ambition and to have these dreams and to have people not listen to you. And so I can really relate to Zara in the way where she’s just trying to make her voice heard, but also she’s still a bit young and naive. She doesn’t know the best ways to go about making her voice heard.
What did I want to bring to the character? Carrie is such a talented writer. Richard’s a great director. It was all on the page. We really had such amazing writing to work with, but the best part about who our team was, we got to improv too. I really wanted to bring some of my own humor to the character, really just bring an infusion of this kind of personality. She’s very different from her mom and she has a lot of wonderful parts of her mom, but also she’s a bit more of this wild ADD, like me, person. I kind of just wanted to bring, I guess my own.
Zac Efron: You brought a ton of it. It was fun. We had a beautiful script by Carrie and Richard was amazing, but some of the most fun moments that we had were improv. We really got some, bring some of our own.
Chris is very different from Efron, but he shared that he feels empathy for the character, even when he makes poor choices, because had he gone down a different path, this could have been him. He explained that this character allowed him to let go of certain things with this performance.
Zac Efron: Chris, I feel for him. I think he’s going through a lot and I don’t think he means for it too, but some of it comes out as probably being very difficult to work with certain aspects of-
Joey King: Probably?
Zac Efron: Of his torment. So I picture how, I guess on my worst days, if I had followed those gut instincts, what I could potentially have turned out [to be]. I think that comes out as Chris. So I had a lot of headway and things I could kind of just let go of in Chris, it was fun.
Zac Efron & Nicole Kidman Have Connected In A Movie Before
“We get to finish that story.”
Nicole Kidmanand Efron have played romantic interests before withPaperboy. Efron teased thatA Family Affairwas an opportunity to finish out the story, but with a more comedic story. He also shared that working with Kidman,“just felt very safe"making their dynamic on screen"very honest and natural.”
Zac Efron: It was amazing, man. Yeah, we got started in Paperboy. In that movie, my character’s very much in love with her, and it’s kind of unrequited love, I guess. This is kind of where we get to finish that story in a comedic way, which was really fun. So we felt like we were picking up where we left off. As always with Nicole, it just felt very safe and you kind get hypnotized by her. So it felt very honest and natural.
King broke down the complicated relationship between Zara and Chris, balancing the boss-assistant dynamic with years that have built a friendship and trust. She also shared how that bond is tested when Zara feels betrayed after learning about the relationship between her boss and mother.
Joey King: I think when we first meet Zara and Chris, they’ve been working together for a while now and they have this funny relationship where they just get on each other’s nerves so much, but also they do anything for each other. Well, Zara would do anything for Chris.
Zac Efron: It’s a deeply trusting kind of relationship.
Joey King: Yes, Chris adores Zara. She’s like his sister and just truly family to Chris. I think Zara does love Chris and thinks of him the same way, even though there’s a lot of tension and they may never say it to each other, but there’s so much love and history behind their tension when we first meet them. And so I think it’s really hard because in reality, I think that Chris and Zara are kind of like each other’s best friends.
And then when this whole mess happens, there’s a lot of familial issues to deal with. But they’re also dealing with the complexities of not just this business relationship, but their friendship is being altered because of this. I think Zara feels not just only betrayed from her mom, but from Chris too.
About A Family Affair
An unexpected romance triggers comic consequences for a young woman, her mother, and her boss, grappling with the complications of love, sex, and identity.
A Family Affair
Cast
A young woman discovers her mother is having an affair with her boss, complicating her professional and personal life. As she navigates the emotional fallout, unexpected relationships and family secrets come to light. The film delves into the complexities of love, loyalty, and the ties that bind, offering a blend of drama and comedy as the characters confront their intertwined fates.
