Can Joey King be *my* best friend?
July 24 was one of the most exciting days of summer 2020, thanks to The Kissing Booth 2 dropping on Netflix. The highly anticipated film, based on the young adult series by author Beth Reekles, follows lifelong best friends Elle (Joey King) and Lee (Joel Courtney) as they navigate relationships, high school, and planning their futures. While die-hard fans already have both The Kissing Booth and The Kissing Booth 2 memorized, these behind-the-scenes facts might just shock even the most dedicated viewers.
Warning: Spoilers for The Kissing Booth 2 ahead. Throughout the first film, Elle started secretly dating Lee's older brother, Noah (Jacob Elordi), and Lee got together with Rachel (Meganne Young). The second film picked up soon after Noah left for Harvard, leaving him and Elle to figure out whether they could navigate a long-distance relationship, and Lee to learn how to balance his time between his BFF and his girlfriend. If that wasn't tricky enough, adding two new, super-hot people — Chloe (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) and Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez) — to the mix made it rom-com magic.
With the third movie slated for an Aug. 11, 2021, release, fans have a few months to blast the soundtrack, follow their fave stars on Instagram, and theorize about who, exactly, Elle will end up with for good. And if you’ve done all that, here are some more details about The Kissing Booth 2 to memorize before the third and final film comes out:
01Joey King Had To Wear Wigs While Filming
King shaved her head for her Emmy-nominated performance in The Act, so in order to pull off Elle's look, she had to wear wigs throughout filming of The Kissing Booth 2. According to the online publication Missy, three wigs were custom-made by the Alex Rouse Wig Company for King to use in the film.
02The Movie Was Filmed In South Africa
While both Kissing Booth movies mostly take place in California, much of it was actually filmed in Cape Town, South Africa — though some of the more iconic Los Angeles landmarks were filmed back on the U.S. West Coast.
03Meganne Young Was Born In South Africa
Although the actor who plays Rachel now lives in Vancouver, she was born in South Africa and spent a year living in Cape Town. In fact, Young actually got the role of Rachel while she still lived in the area. In an interview with TooFab, she said she still has friends and family in the area and got to visit with them while portraying her character in the films.
04A Lot Of Work Went Into The Soundtrack
Director Vince Marcello was very particular with his soundtrack choices, purposefully weaving modern and classic hits together for the feel-good, nostalgic mix that just begs to be played all summer long. From The Beach Boys to The Romantics to White Plains, here's hoping the third film's musical track is just as epic.
05Taylor Zakhar Perez Couldn't Play Guitar When He Was Cast
Although Perez has been stage training since a young age — and was confident in his singing and acting abilities when auditioning for the film — one trait of Marco's he didn't possess was his guitar-playing skills. "I have never played guitar in my life. I grew up playing piano," he told Glamour in a July 23 interview.
A week after landing the part of Marco, Perez started taking lessons so that by the time filming rolled around, he was ready to perform in front of hundreds of people.
06Perez Was Embarrassed By That Whole “Snack” Scene Too
In the second film, Elle meets Marco after accidentally calling him a “snack” over the school’s loudspeaker. In July 2020, Perez told Refinery29 he “had so much anxiety and embarrassment” about that whole situation, not just for himself but also “secondhand embarrassment” for King’s character as well.
07The Flynn Home Was In Black Mirror
If you recognized the gorgeous home the Flynn family lives in, it's probably because you saw it in another Netflix original. In the 2019 Black Mirror episode, “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too” (you know, the one starring Miley Cyrus), that same house was used for both the interior and exterior takes of Cyrus's character's home.
08Fans Thought Jacob Elordi Looked "Miserable" In The Kissing Booth 2
When a teaser video for The Kissing Booth 2 came out in October 2019, viewers thought Elordi was less than hyped to be reprising his role in the hit Netflix film franchise… notably because it meant playing the boyfriend of his IRL ex-girlfriend, King. However, when asked about it in an interview with Access Hollywood in July 2020, Elordi said he wasn’t mad; that’s just his face.
“I have a resting miserable face,” Elordi said. “You know what it is? It’s because I’m usually thinking a lot, about like, an insane amount about something ridiculous … I finished Euphoria after like, two night shoots, and I got on a plane and flew to Africa ... I was bloody tired, but I wasn't miserable.”
09Joel Courtney Is A Great Dancer
While King admitted she's not great at Dance Dance Revolution like Elle is, she said her onscreen BFF, Courtney, is actually really good at the video game their characters are always seen playing. While she told the Los Angeles Times in April 2020 she’s no good at Dance Dance Revolution, “Joel’s fast. He picks it up. He does it really quickly.”
10King Got Tendinitis From Rehearsing
While working on her dance moves for The Kissing Booth 2, King practiced so hard she ended up with tendinitis. “That training — it is intense,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s so hard. Now I have tendinitis in my elbow from it.” After seeing her performance in the movie's dance competition it's pretty clear her hard work paid off.
11Maisie Richardson-Sellers Worked Hard For Her Role
Richardson-Sellers prepared for The Kissing Booth 2's Chloe by taking lots of classes to act as the ultimate cool girl — not that she needed help. One peek at her Instagram proves she already has that aspect nailed down.
Nevertheless, the actor reportedly took Italian lessons and trained with a champion pool player to perfect those impressive moves everyone saw in The Kissing Booth 2.
12Courtney & King Are Close IRL
It turns out, while their characters are besties onscreen, the actors who play Lee and Elle are actually pals in real life. After reconnecting with King for the first day of filming the second movie, Courtney said their bond was effortless. "It was like putting on your favorite jacket,” he tells Elite Daily. “It just like, slips right on and you know how to wear it." It makes sense that they have such great onscreen chemistry since they’re also friends behind the scenes.
13The Kissing Booth 3 Filmed At The Same Time As The Sequel
On July 26, just two days after The Kissing Booth 2 was released, Netflix announced the third film was not only going to come out in 2021, but also that it’s already filmed. The two movies were produced in tandem while the cast was in South Africa, which is why fans are getting to see Elle, Lee, and Noah in the third film so soon after the second one came out.
The Kissing Booth 2 is on Netflix now.
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