Sofia Carsonis new Netflix romance Purple Heartscounting her as a star and executive producer has gotten a lot of people talking.
Carson, formerly known for the Disney Channel’s descendants franchise and Freeform’s short-lived sequel series Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, stars in the film as Cassie Salazar, an aspiring rocker with progressive values who agrees to marry a Marine named Luke (played by Nicholas Galitzine) solely for military health insurance to cover her medical expenses as a type 1 diabetes. Likewise, Luke is dealing with his own financial problems and would also benefit from the fake marriage which gradually leads to real feelings.
Directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum, who collaborated with Carson on perfectioniststhe film has found an audience. Purple HeartsWith a pun-based title referring to a person with blue values mingling with someone who identifies as red, it debuted at number one in the Netflix Top 10 for Movies and has topped the list since its release on July 29.
The movie clearly has a lot of fans, but it also seems to be a bit of a polarizing title. It has a critical rating of 38 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and while some social media users praise the love story and message of acceptance, others have found flaws in certain characterizations, including Luke’s fellow soldier who at one point enjoyed “on going hunting for some fucking Arabs.”
Thanks to Mark Fellman/Netflix
“We definitely wanted to show the dichotomy between these two characters and their incredibly different political views without taking sides,” said Carson, 29. The Hollywood Reporter. “They see each other with compassion and empathy. Call it optimistic, but that’s the story we wanted to tell is that if you lead with love, love can heal in ways that can be quite powerful.”
In the interview below, the star discusses the film’s purpose of commenting on this “divisive” political moment, her hopes of bringing about change in the healthcare system, her experience with Netflix amid reports of its changing movie strategies and why the project allows viewers to see her “in a way they hadn’t seen me before.”
The film clearly has a connection with the public and debuted at number one on Netflix’s Top 10, despite a seemingly modest profile. How did you first get involved?
This has actually been about five years in the making for me. I was recording a series called Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists in Portland, Oregon, and I had the opportunity to work with my director, Liz Allen, while we were there. around Christmas [in 2018], she came up to me on set and handed me a script and said, “Merry Christmas Eve.” It said Purple Hearts, and it was a rough cut of our movie. She indicated that she wanted to do this not only as a director and actor but as partners and to bring this to life together. I came on as executive producer and star of the film and had been developing it ever since, and it was the most satisfying journey, personally and as an artist. It’s just the most beautiful feeling to know that it’s the world’s now, and the world has fallen in love with it as much as I loved making it.
Did you have a personal relationship with military spouses?
I had no personal connection with military husbands. I have a connection with the military, as my great-uncle and my two uncles on my grandmother’s side were both in the military. But what attracted me most about this story was that it was so much more than just a love story, but a love story with a very important socio-political message. The past five years have been some of the most divisive in our country, or at least in my generation. The story is about two hearts from opposite ends of the world – one red, one blue, raised to hate each other – who, through the power of love, come together to form a beautiful purple hue. That to me is the heart of our film and a message that I really wanted to tell.
What went into handling the character’s health journey with type 1 diabetes?
As we learned more and more about type 1 diabetes and developed Cassie, we found that it is, quite frankly, highly underrepresented in film and TV and in the media. One issue that needs to be talked about is the insulin crisis in this country and the health care crisis in this country, how there are countless girls and men and women like Cassie who literally cannot afford the insulin they need to survive. I learned a lot about what it means to be type 1 diabetes, what my daily life would be like. We also had a doctor on set who taught me about the insulin pump, the injections and how to act if I had a low blood sugar attack.
Hopper Stone/Netflix
As a producer you have to have a voice in the casting. Why was Nicholas the right match for Luke, and how did you develop chemistry?
It was very interesting to be on the other side of the casting for the first time in my life, casting more than casting. We met a lot of really talented actors and I knew right away reading with Nick that he and I had something special because our chemistry was clear even through Zoom.
You are a singer and you play some songs like Cassie. How was the music process?
I am forever grateful to Netflix and Liz and my production partners for trusting me to have such a decisive role in this film. Even when it came to the soundtrack, they trusted me to write the soundtrack and choose my partner for the writing process, and the first person I approached was Justin Tranter. We wrote the soundtrack in a week. It’s surreal now to see the numbers and stats of the soundtrack – we just found out it’s the top 10 on Spotify. The song “Come Back Home” has had the most resonance so far and really just captures the essence of our film.
Many fans probably know you from descendants, but it looks like this project will show you in a different way. Has its success led to different kinds of meetings and conversations for you in the industry?
It’s been one of the craziest weeks of my life. It’s moments like these that take you to a different stage in your career, and I cherish every moment, every opportunity that comes my way. I’m so thankful it happened to this movie because I’ve been so lucky to do so many great things in my career, but I’ve put so much of my whole self into this movie and every aspect, and this is what resonating with the world in such a massive way is so satisfying and so satisfying. Because this is a very challenging and dramatic role, the world has been able to see me in a way they hadn’t seen me before.
Amid Netflix’s recent stock market decline, there have been reports that the company may be focusing more on larger projects. Did you feel that projects like yours might be at risk in the future, or were you concerned that they might?
My only experience with Netflix is that they believed and supported our movie from the very beginning. This is a relatively smaller movie compared to the big blockbusters that they do, and they put their whole heart into this, and I’m so thankful for the partners they were. In any case, this is proof to the contrary, as we were number 1 in most countries around the world.
There has been discussion about Chris Pratt’s Amazon series The terminal list about the team of the show defend its popularity despite the lack of strong critical reception. Does it seem that projects with a military storyline can be boxed in or potentially polarizing for the public?
I can speak for us that we have not had that situation yet. Our movie is so loved by the whole world. Of course, military families are so closely associated with this film, but it seems to have spoken to the rest of the world as well. This “come back home” message—although our movie is specifically about Luke returning from the war to Cassie—could be about so many things. You see so many TikToks online of people turning this song and message into coming back in your skin or reuniting with your love or with family. But I think this message has become much more universal than just the story in our movie.
Was it a goal not to politicize the film and find a way for viewers, regardless of political affiliation, to see themselves in it?
We definitely wanted to show the dichotomy between these two characters and their incredibly different political views without taking sides. And also shows that, especially Cassie’s character, she never abandons who she is or what she believes in. What happens to these two people is that instead of hating each other and seeing their divisions, they begin to see each other as people, not just political views. They see each other with compassion and empathy. Call it optimistic, but that’s the story we wanted to tell is that if you lead with love, love can heal in ways that can be quite powerful.
There is now a new one Liars series on HBO Max. Are you and Liz sorry yours didn’t work out?
I think it was intended. We were supposed to meet on that show, and that brought us here.
Interview edited for length and clarity.
Purple Hearts is currently streaming on Netflix.