The affable indie romcom, “Things Like This,” written and directed by Max Talisman, finds its gentle humor in the fact that the two romantic leads are both named Zack. They meet cute at a talent showcase when Zack (Joey Pollari), an agent’s assistant, buys Zack (Talisman), a struggling writer, a drink — after writer Zack has consumed it. They each feel a spark, however, and it is enough to prompt assistant Zack to break up with his needy boyfriend Eric (Taylor Trensch) and start dating writer Zack.
When the two Zacks discover a past shared connection, it feels like fate brought them (back) together. But assistant Zack may just be on the rebound and afraid of commitment. “Things Like This” charts the ups and downs of the relationship, which includes sweet moments like a romantic rooftop sleepover, as well as miscommunications and, of course, big grand gestures.
Talisman and Pollari spoke with Gay City News about their genial gay romcom.
Max, what prompted you to write, direct, and star in this film?
Talisman: I never felt like I was represented on screen in any way. There were no plus-size leads. As an actor, I wasn’t getting the auditions I wanted. I wasn’t getting a chance to explore characters that were challenging to me. I kept getting cast as the funny fat friend, and I wanted something that felt more representative of who I was. I wanted to play a leading man. It was important for me to give myself that opportunity. It wasn’t the original plan. I know I was writing for myself; directing came later. It was a choice that felt inevitable in the end.
Max, what can you say about leaning into or away from the romcom tropes?
Talisman: I thought it was important to lean into them while making them feel original and true. It was important to see them through a queer lens and with a leading man that looked like me.
While we are exploring things that feel familiar, we wanted it to feel new. The more you lean into the tropes, the more we are exposing that they have not been representative of everyone.
Can you each talk about developing your characters’ relationship and what Zack and Zack saw in the other?
Max: In the meet cute, my Zack is this charmer and it’s this sense of opposites attract, but they have similar values in what they hold important, which is central to good relationships. They both hold a sense of independence, but there is also a feeling that one goes after what they want and the other has a sense of conformity, which is a kind of independence in his mind. There is this sense that falling in love with what you see in the other person is what you want to see in yourself. They have this instant connection that grows. That’s what makes their love feel real and why we want them to be together.
Pollari: Each of them see in the other something that is not expressed. That’s a rule in many relationships — that a partner brings out a latent quality. My Zack sees a confidence and a freedom from the expected role in society in the other Zack, and that brings up his fear and forces him to confront the fate that he was going to be relegated to, which is type A, straight edge. When he meets the other Zach, who has freedom from the strictures of society, it offers him another path. This calls my Zach to question his fate and choose something else.
Do you believe in fate/destiny? Why or why not? Any examples from your lives?
Talisman: I do. I absolutely believe in fate and destiny in more ways than just romance. That we are meant to be where we are, in the right time. Even with this film, the right people were there at the end of the day.
Pollari: I thought about this earlier, and emphatically said yes, fate exists because of some experiences in my life. But as I think now, whether it does or not, the meaning that experiences accrue speak to a level of fate — jobs I didn’t book, relationships that did not pan out — and thinking that they were an end in and of themselves, that fate had something else in mind. Looking back at the tapestry of your life, you think — that would have never happened if this…. It has that novelist device that we call fate. At times, we try to escape fate that has been laid out by our family history or the world we live in, and we fight to move beyond it.
Joey, can you talk about how you approached your character?
Pollari: I thought he was so afraid that he blows up his entire life to convince himself that fate does not have a hand in this relationship — that he can’t, or is insufficient, to be able to love. That was an interesting entry point to a romcom.
Joey, I understand you are a singer, but Max, you are the one who gets to belt out a song here. Can you talk about that?
Talisman: Let me clear, Joey didn’t write the role for himself. [Laughs] Somethings are afforded to the creator. We sing “Dark Blue” together for a split second.
Pollari: I made a character decision not to not have him sing well. It’s your moment.
As openly gay actors, can you talk about the importance of making gay films, telling queer stories, and shaping your career around projects like “Things Like This”?
Talisman: Until this point, I’ve only played straight roles on screen. If I was going to write it, it’d be from my experience, which is a gay experience. If I wanted to tell something truly “me,” it would be from that lens. As an actor, I love to play any part, but as a storyteller and creator, it is important for me to push forward queer stories to make sure all voices are being heard.
Pollari: It’s been pretty accidental. I’ve been lucky that my career has been shaped by opportunity, chance, and perhaps even fate. I like that I have played a lot of very complicated characters and characters who are usually very divided against themselves, save for “Love, Simon,” which was not a queer character but in a queer movie. I like that I’ve been able to, or been chosen to, play those parts.
Have either or both of you had “beautiful, strange moments,” such as the one the two Zacks have on one of their dates, or, “share little moments,” which is advice writer Zack gets about the secret to a great relationship?
Talisman: I wrote that whole monologue about the little moments because of how I fell in love and how I felt that it’s one thing where you go out and experience things together, but it’s another when no one else is there and you are able to connect in a more vulnerable and real way.
Pollari: I have had a great deal of those moments. I have had relationships where that meet cute was a bolt of lightning that I was drawn towards. A weekend away, or meeting someone while on vacation for only one weekend and everything is heightened. What a wonderful experience that is.
“Things Like This” | Directed by Max Talisman | Opening May 16 at the AMC Empire 25 | Distributed by MPX Releasing.
