Meet Cute: Camryn Garrett on 'Dirty Dancing,' Daniel Day Lewis, and More

"These past two months, I’ve watched Dirty Dancing way too many times."

meet cute is a segment where we talk to folks about their favorite rom-coms, their hearty hot takes, and more. this week, we talked with film student and author CAMRYN GARRETT about her faves: including, but not limited to, Dirty Dancing, rom-com-dramas, Daniel Day Lewis as a bleach blonde, and more…

Hi! I’m Camryn Garrett. I’m currently a junior at NYU studying film and an author of books! My next book comes out on May 18th! You can follow me on Twitter at @dancingofpens!

I watched [rom-coms] with my moms, and I loved them. My mom loved the movie Bride Wars — which, Bride Wars hates women. But Bride Wars, 27 Dresses. My mom’s favorite rom-com is Bed of Roses, which came out in the 90s and had Christian Slater. It’s does not hold up today. Christian Slater’s a florist, and there’s this woman with emotional issues. She’s traumatized from something. He sends her flowers to her apartment because he’s been watching her. My mom’s like, “Isn’t it so romantic?” I’m like, “Why has he been watching her? Why does he know where she lives?”

Long story short, I find them really, really comforting. My mom does this thing where she watches the same movies over and over again, and I like that. These past two months, I’ve watched Dirty Dancing way too many times. I like the comfort of them, and I like that they remind me of my mom.

FAVORITE ROM-COM HITS

Most importantly: best meet cute?

This is a question I was having trouble with, because I was realizing all of my favorite couples in rom-coms know each other already. Like in Clueless, or in 10 Things I Hate About You she seems to kind of already know who he is. In Crazy Stupid Love, when Emma Stone kisses Ryan Gosling out of nowhere, I like that. He was like, “Woah, um.” I like that! I like meet cutes, but I don’t really like them. So I like that it cuts straight to it. Working Girl, I like the meet cute in that, although it’s more iffy. It’s a little messy.

Who’s the #1 rom-com character that you identify with?

Probably Bridget Jones. I would say Lara Jean, but she kind of got annoying by the third movie, so I would not say that. First movie Lara Jean and Bridget Jones.

Relatedly, who’s the best rom-com journalist?

Sidney from Brown Sugar. She’s great. Iconic.

What’s the best rom-com speech?

This is kind of basic, and I don’t know if this movie counts. But in Jerry Maguire, when he makes the whole, “You complete me.” speech. That’s my favorite. I’m the women who are in the we-hate-men group, who are swooning as he makes the speech. That’s my vibe.

What’s the best needle drop in a rom-com?

The acceptable answer is “Say a Little Prayer” in My Best Friend’s Wedding. But then I wanted to say “Hungry Eyes” in Dirty Dancing, but Dirty Dancing isn’t really a rom-com. (Editor’s note: it counts as a rom-com to me.)

Who’s the leader of the rom-com world — actor, director, writer, etc.?

Oh, man. I kept reading people’s answers, and I was like, “I’m going to be creative and not say what they said!” But, I truly have to say Nora Ephron. I was like, “I’m not going to say what everyone else said!” But I don’t think there’s a better answer.

I kind of had a meet cute. I went to this restaurant and I sat there the whole time just reading this whole book about Nora Ephron, and the waiter kept asking me questions about her. He would ignore his table to talk about Nora Ephron. I feel like I should use that somewhere. It was fun. My friend was like, “You idiot! He was flirting with you.” I was like, “I thought he just wanted to know about Nora Ephron.”

Best rom-com outfit? Any idea where to find it?

I’ll be basic and I’m going to say Lara Jean — in [To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before] specifically, she has so many good outfits. The scene where they are writing their contract. She has her little bow in her hair, and a pink jacket. I love that. You could go to Forever 21? If it’s still open?

ON ROM-COM THEORY

Toughie, but important: to you, what makes a rom-com a rom-com?

I’m not as strict as other people, because when I was making a list of things to talk about, I was talking about Dirty Dancing. I had other things that weren’t strictly rom-coms. I feel it just has to have fun moments — I’m pretty loose. Even if it’s a drama, as long as there’s a fun moment where either you laugh or one of the characters laugh, then I feel like it’s a rom-com. That’s why, in my mind, Dirty Dancing counts. My Beautiful Laundrette counts, which, you may not know what that is.

I wish there was a way to zoom into my face, because I’m about to get serious. It’s 1985, it was Daniel Day Lewis’s first film role. It’s not a romance technically, but a huge part of the plot is his relationship with the main character Omar. They have so many rom-com moments: they have a meet cute. In the first scene, when we meet Daniel Day Lewis, he’s leaning against a lamppost. The main character stops the car he’s driving and runs over to him. Such a meet cute thing to me. There are so many — but I won’t get into it. Daniel Day Lewis and his bleached hair? It’s an iconic look.

Best MPAA rating for a rom-com?

I’m going to say rated R. I have two opinions. PG-13 is nice, because then you can have all those bonding moments with your mom. But, on the other hand, My Beautiful Laundrette is rated R, and there’s a really great sex scene. If it’s rated R, it can be a young girl’s sexual awakening. I’ll lean towards rated R.

What’s the best genre to pair with a rom-com?

I want to say drama, but that’s not really a genre. I love that. I love the triangle — I was watching Crazy Ex-Girlfriend earlier, and she has a song where it’s about the math behind love triangles. But I like the idea of comedy, and then romance, and then drama, all there. Because I feel like there’s so much to choose from. Even in rom-coms, there are elements of drama. Thinking of My Best Friend’s Wedding, where, obviously, Julianne is a mess, clearly. You know the scene where they’re in the train station? That’s so dramatic. They’re doing dramatic acting.

I feel like that’s my favorite, and that’s my favorite thing too — when there’s all three. It’s harder for me to take something seriously when there’s no drama. Even 27 Dresses — which I’ve grown to like, I used to hate it — even that, there’s drama with her resenting her sister and the death of their mom. There’s drama there. I really like that, the pairing of seriousness with comedy and love.

About literature and films, what do you notice about the rom-coms you watch and books? Book rom-coms versus movie rom-coms — are they handled differently?

There are similar tropes, like the “hate-to-love” or “fake dating,” similar things that people want to see. I know with romance novels specifically, there are strict rules with what is considered a romance and what isn’t, and that was one of the reasons why writing romance was hard for me. For example: My Best Friend’s Wedding wouldn’t really work, because you can’t really have cheating. It has to have a happy wedding.

Romance readers expect very specific things. It’s comforting, to see the same thing over and over again, but also kind of hard sometimes if you’re writing it. Whereas, with rom-com movies, I think there are things we generally expect; but if it doesn’t really follow it, I don’t think people are up-in-arms they way they would be about romance novels. Romance novels are such a big deal, so I think that’s why.

Are there any rom-com novels that are overdue for the film treatment? What would your vision be?

Do you know the book Writers and Lovers? I love Writers and Lovers. That’s also kind of what I was talking about — the woman who wrote it isn’t a millennial, but the book’s about a millennial whose life is a mess — that’s what I mean, where it’s a literary book, but it feels like a romance. It’s centered on romance.

I would like to make that. It’s basically about this woman who is a writer, who’s looking for lovers. She’s poor, she has tons of student debt, and she has two love interests. She’s trying to choose between the two of them. It’s so good. But like I said, it’s a great trifeca of drama, comedy, and romance. The drama is her mom passed away, so she’s grieving her mom’s death. But then there’s comedy, because one of her love interests is this widowed man who’s older. He’s kind of weird. He’s like, “I want to see if I can date a younger woman. After my wife died, I thought I could never touch a woman again.” I’m like, “Okay? That’s a little weird.” Her other love interest is this guy who asks her out, and then goes on this drive immediately after. It’s set in the 90s, so she can’t call him. She’s like, “Where’d you go?” And he’s like, “I drove across the country.” As one does!

(Also, it was just announced that Toni Collette will be directing this film adaptation of this book!)

AND NOW, FOR CAMRYN’S OWN ROM-COM…

Modern English

“She was looking for a book. She found love.”

New York writer Camryn (Dominique Fishback) enrolls in the masterclass of her dreams: a how-to on book-to-film adaptation. Ready to schlep her life uptown for a few months and give herself a little writer’s retreat, she’s not ready for what’s actually about to hit her: a partner project. That’s right. Instead of working on a solo screenplay, Camryn’s partnered with Dylan (Luca Marinelli), an always late, super annoying classmate. How can they settle on a book together if they can’t even settle on where to get lunch? When the pair find out that they share the loss of their father, they settle on a book that, surprisingly, they both enjoy. But then, when Camryn meets with the author, Yvette (Kiki Layne), a new issue arises: she doesn’t want her book to become a novel. Can she battle both Yvette and Dylan, as well as her feelings that just won’t subside? Perhaps her masterclass professor, Jennifer (Lupita Nyong’o) can provide some mentorship — she has history with Yvette.