By Kate Skelly
TORONTO, Oct 8 Reuters) – Actor Margaret Qualley, who stars in Amazon’s heartbreaking and unexpected romance “Love of Your Life,” said she gravitated towards the script because it took her on an “emotional ride.”
“I was just blown away, and I cried reading it,” Qualley told Reuters ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Qualley is in nearly every frame of the film, which traces her character Maya’s sweeping journey over several years and countries. She is first introduced as a 26-year-old nurse living in Boston who falls in love with Charlie, played by actor Gabriel Basso, but their whirlwind romance — which included springing a surprise wedding on their loved ones — takes a tragic turn, and Maya is forced to start over.
For director Rachel Morrison, saying yes to the script, which was written by Julia Cox, was not as immediate.
“There’s a lot of myself in this experience and I probably was scared to admit that at first,” Morrison said.
“And then it hit me like a ton of bricks … This is, like, kind of my story.”
The film’s trajectory changes when it reaches March 2020, and the all-too-familiar onset of the pandemic. In preparation for her role, Qualley spoke with several emergency-room nurses who worked through COVID-19 — part of what Morrison described as “getting the details right” and honouring those who put their lives on the line.
“In Maya’s case, it was a different kind of PTSD, but I think probably nobody escaped from some level of response that was long-lasting,” Morrison said.
Qualley’s performance is bolstered by a powerful ensemble, including Patrick Schwarzenegger from “The White Lotus” and Oscar nominee Catherine Keener.
“Love of Your Life” began its brief theatrical release on October 7 before it streams globally on Amazon Prime Video on October 14.
(Reporting by Kate Skelly; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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