Fresh off her Oscars red-carpet hosting gig for the third year in a row, Vanessa Hudgens is back on the big screen with a juicy new femme fatale-type role. French Girl also stars Garden State director-star Zach Braff, and it’s a gloriously silly new addition to a certain subgenre of cinema. Do you miss the glory days of rom-coms when you’d be knee-deep in some soapy love triangle-type story, and then something shocking would happen on-screen, and you’d say, “Awkwarrrrd,” out loud to no one in particular? If yes, you’re in luck (and it’s okay to watch romantic comedies by yourself). They seem to be making a comeback as of late — in addition to French Girl, there is No Hard Feelings, Anyone But You and also What Happens Later.

The eponymous character in French Girl is the wonderful French Canadian actress Évelyne Brochu, who TV-goers will remember from the hit series Orphan Black. Here she plays Sophie, a talented chef caught in the middle of a lovers’ debacle between current BF Gordon (Braff) and past lover Ruby (Hudgens), who swoops in with an enticing job offer that would require Sophie and Gordon to move from Brooklyn to Quebec. We recently caught up with the acclaimed actors in a group interview to learn more about how much fun it was to tackle a modern-day rom-com and their favorite moments from the finished product. You can watch our interview above.

French Girl: ‘A Little Something for Everyone’
French Girl 3/5 Release Date March 15, 2024 Director James A. Woods , Nicolas Wright Runtime 106 Minutes Writers James A. Woods , Nicolas Wright Tagline Menage-a-what?

Rock ‘n’ roll is not dead, as the saying goes, and neither is the romantic comedy. We asked the French Girl stars how it feels to make an exciting new contribution to the rom-com realm. “It just feels really good, and we’re all so proud of the movie,” Braff told MovieWeb. He elaborated:

“When you make a comedy, especially, you have no idea if it’s gonna work or not. You’re laughing on set, but then the directors go off and edit it for so long. And I think I speak for the three of us — when we saw this, we were like, ‘Wow, they did it! It’s so funny.’ And you’re so invested in these people, you’re invested in the romance.
I think the best rom-coms have a little something for everyone
. There’s romance for the romantics, there’s physical comedy for those that like that. This one even has a giant MMA scene.”

In addition to a hilarious MMA scene, there’s also a monumental funeral scene, as teased in the film’s promotional trailer. Why so monumental? Well, since Hudgens (High School Musical, Tick, Tick… Boom!) is aboard the project, you can count on her to belt out at least one memorizing musical number — to hilarious effect, as you’ll see.

“The singing of a song at the funeral was in the script, and when I first talked to [writer-directors] Nic and James about it, they’re like, ‘How do you feel about that? Is that something you would want to do?’ And I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? That’s hilarious. 100% we have to do it,'” Hudgens told us. “And then I really got to lean in and make it my own, and turn it as cringey as I possibly could.”

Évelyne Brochu on the French Canadian Element
Paramount Movies

Brochu continued to detail the joys of shooting French Girl at large. “We all had so much fun. It was such a laugh. I mean, Nic and James really encouraged us to feel free to improvise. They would throw lines at us — it was a very effervescent, spontaneous set. So I think I can speak for all the other French Canadian actors, we just have a really special place in our hearts for this movie because it was a joy to make,” said Brochu, who added:

When it comes to that French Canadian family [in the film], everybody plays a very specific archetype that, coming from that background, I know it’s real, and how vibrant and how beautifully played and how that story is told with so much love. And that little micro banter that happens at the table, that’s everybody pitching in, that’s Nic and James welcoming that. And I think that’s what makes those scenes so powerful and real.”

Related: Exclusive: Comedians Jermaine Fowler and Andrew Santino on Bringing the Laughs in Ricky Stanicky

Physical Comedy a la Scrubs and Vanessa Hudgens at the Oscars

Braff’s character Gordon in French Girl is put through the ringer as he tries to fit in with his lover’s hardnosed family, who reside on a farm, with crazed livestock swarming him at any given moment. Fans of Braff’s past work might catch shades of perhaps his most iconic role to date in this new film of his. “I definitely did a lot of physical comedy on Scrubs. Physical comedy was a character in the show,” he told us. Braff added:

So it’s something I really enjoy doing, and I haven’t done it in a long time. So it was fun to get back to doing that stuff because physical comedy, well-done, is always something I really, really enjoy. It always makes me belly laugh, and shooting this stuff was so outrageous.

Paramount Movies

Looking ahead, French Girl sets up a funny little universe for the three main characters, so we had to ask if the leads would welcome the opportunity to tackle a sequel. “100% we’re all in,” said Brochu. “So much fun. If they said it’s happening tomorrow, I’d be there.”

“I want to make more,” Braff added. “It doesn’t have to be the same genre. I want to get the same exact cast back together and make like a murder mystery or something. We just had so much fun together. I want to get everyone back together.”

In terms of current events, both Hudgens and MovieWeb were present at the Oscars, so we were curious how she felt about this latest ceremony. “It’s amazing,” Hudgens told us. “This was my third year hosting the red carpet, and it’s just such a special thing. It’s so, so lovely to be surrounded by the people that I’ve always looked up to, talking about the films that we love and are celebrating. It’s just such a monumental evening, so to be a part of it is always such a highlight for me.”

From Paramount Global Content Distribution Group, French Girl hits U.S. theaters March 15th and will be available on digital March 19. The film had its U.S. premiere at this year’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival.