Romcom lovers of the world, unite. Indie film Rye Lane is here to steal all of our hearts.
The film follows unlucky-in-love Dom and Yas and their misguided adventures over a day in and around South London’s Rye Lane market. After Yas meets Dom (Industry’s David Jonsson) crying in a toilet cubicle over his ex, the duo decide to help each other through their respective break up dramas. A day of hilarity and, dare we say it, a spark of romance ensues.
Watch out for a blink-and-you’ll miss it appearance from It’s A Sin star Omari Douglas, as well as a cameo from a true romcom legend that GLAMOUR won’t spoil.
Using fat suits to enable fat jokes unwittingly give viewers permission to reenact these behaviours in real life.
Vivian Oparah's Yas is full of sass and quick quips about how to get over a “binfire of a man” and move on. But her bluster and confidence is not all that it seems. As her and Dom become closer, we see her defences dissolve, and the possibility for a new connection beckons.
This is Oparah's time – after an array of exciting TV roles, including a small part in Michaela Coel's I Will Destroy You – Rye Lane is set to put her on the road to stardom.
GLAMOUR sat down with her to talk the important equality and “fluidity” between the gender roles in Rye Lane, her experience of starring as a female black lead in a romcom and her take on romance.
What first attracted you to the role of Yas?
When I read the script, I just was like, ‘why would she make decisions like that?’. As an actor you always want to do something that is a bit far away from yourself, and I could not personally get the speed that Yas moves at, and her curiosity for the world around her – the neuroses, at times.
I just wanted to understand what was underneath such a strong escapist intention. And once I got into the heart of her, I was really endeared towards her. Some people are just unapologetically messy, and I respect that.
So many romcoms can feel a bit sterile or dry, but Rye Lane is full of so much flavour and fun. What do you think it’s bringing to the romcom world?
I hope it’s disrupting the idea that romcom characters need to adhere to certain types of conventions. Yas isn’t your typical romcom female lead – she's a bit of a dick! She makes mistakes, she's messy.
And there’s fluidity between the two characters – sometimes Dom takes the lead and sometimes Yas takes the lead. Dom hops on the back of Yas’ moped, for example. Both characters take time to wear the hero cape and the devil horns, you know? I like that this shows that it could be anyone's turn at any point.
You and David Jonsson have amazing onscreen chemistry. Did you have to do a chemistry read?
Well initially, I was paired with another actor, who was fab. But then I just got in the room with David, I was throwing a lot of curveballs when we had to improv, and things slotted together so perfectly. We’re also both really hard workers, and I have a lot of immediate respect for hard workers. So I immediately liked the guy on a personal level… and was blown away by him as an actor.
Were there intimacy coaches on set for filming romantic scenes?
It was offered to us, obviously – there was such a holistic approach to filming but when we got round to it, we were like, ‘it's kind of fine’, because we were comfortable around each other. Sometimes you’re not, and you need that safety. But we trusted each other enough and knew each other’s boundaries. We decided ‘okay, are we happy to have this first kiss, us kissing as two human beings, as the characters’ first one onscreen?’. And we both consented to that.
Rye Lane is being heralded as the Gen Z Notting Hill, so there’s a lot of hype! How have you dealt with any pressure coming from fame, mental health wise?
I don't read anything online. I literally only made a Twitter account yesterday – I just completely unplug. Filming Rye Lane was such an insular process also, we made it at the end of COVID and I was just happy to be around people, the creative team on both sides of the camera. The whole thing has kind of been in a bubble, and I just feel inherently protected. That we've all got each other's backs.
Yas is excellent at putting on a front, but we learn that she’s scared to be vulnerable – would you say you’re the same?
I don't feel the need to put up a front – but I think maybe that comes from like a lack of patience in me! I'm always like, ‘God, if you pretend to be someone, eventually you're gonna have to…’ It just feels really long. The idea of doing that just feels like an effort. I'd rather just arrive as I am.
I definitely empathise that it’s a thing that people use to cope, and I understand why completely. But yeah, I don't feel like I align with her very much on putting up a front and having a hard exterior, but I can't tell you this for any noble reason. It's really just because I can't be bothered.
What would you say makes you feel powerful?
I think doing the opposite to Yas and turning up as you are, and the world responding to that, is pretty empowering. And that doesn't necessarily mean being liked. I think I feel empowered by the idea of integrity. If I remain myself wherever I am, I'm always going to know that I did my best because I was just me – I wasn’t trying to mould and shape myself to however I wanted to be perceived. Yeah, that makes me feel empowered.
I also love a good outfit, it makes me feel like me. I watch a lot of cartoons and the outfits and how the characters are presented are just as important as the characterisation.
We see Yas “curate her shit” by kind of telling her own break up narrative, instead of what really happened. How guilty are we all of that, of telling our painful stories with a bit of spin?
Yas definitely remixes stuff in order to cope. That's good, but it’s only going to carry you so far, and means you’re actually never really going to process what's happened. I think everyone's guilty of it – it’s a good short-term plaster, but you can't put a plaster on a stab wound, you know what I mean?
The film doesn’t shy away from how tough break ups are, but also sees the humour in it. What were your thoughts on the balance between the two?
Me and my friends always talk about when you have a big cry and then you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror, and it's kind of funny! You might even stick your tongue out, and then you go back to crying. But in that moment, you see yourself and you're like, ‘it's not that serious, but I'm going to feel the feelings anyway. I know this is gonna be funny in like, five to six working days.’ It’s chaotic, and humbling, for sure.
The figures show over and over the lack of Black female leads in Hollywood films. Have you encountered any hurdles yourself with this?
Yeah, I think there's probably stuff that I haven't even known about, that I've been up against. But that's why this the filming of Rye Lane was so fantastic because there was people of colour on both sides of the camera. And it wasn't because it was a ‘diversity hire’, it was because they were the best person for the job.
A lot of the teams were headed up by women – Black women. Also, we just had teams that cared. That's really what people in the industry should be looking for, the best person for the job – as well as interrogating their own biases as to why they might not want to give someone a chance. Stereotypically, in romcoms they'll use a dark-skinned man, but they'll try and offset it with a lighter-skinned woman.
You’ve had some rather cool roles so far, what was it like to be on the set of I May Destroy You?
I'm just in awe of Michaela Coel as a human being and as a creative. That was such an important, important, important piece of work that she made. I was just watching a genius at play, it really was just a learning experience, honestly. I definitely want to take a little bit of her with me everywhere that I go because I was so impressed and inspired.
Yas and Dom form a rather adorable connection in the space of a day together. Do you think you can fall in love in a day?
I believe that limerence is a thing, and I believe that you can get infatuated with someone new and it's like a new toy, and there’s validity to that. You can definitely fall in love with the experience that you have with someone in a day. You're just like ‘God that just felt so serendipitous and special’, and that's because it is and it was. But love is a different thing. I think love is very silent, and that there's a lot of pause. And I don't know if you can know that when you're spending your first day with each other.
What should audiences take away from Rye Lane?
I think it’s a lesson in vulnerability, as these two characters learn to be with one another. It’s also such a truthful portrayal of South London – we said it’s the silent third character. And the film doesn't embellish. It doesn't hide anything. It's just like, ‘this is what South London looks like right now’. Take it or leave it.
Rye Lane is in cinemas from 17th March.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
