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Summary

Jesse Williams & Zoe Chao Revealed Their Dream Swaps After Shooting 'Your Place Or Mine'

Zoe Chao says it was a dream come true working with Reese Witherspoon.

Zoe Chao and Jesse Williams.

Zoe Chao and Jesse Williams.

Narcity
Senior Writer

It's Valentine's season and if you're looking for a new rom-com to watch with your partner, bestie or just on your own, you might want to add Netflix's new Your Place Or Mine flick to your list.

Jesse Williams of Grey's Anatomy and The Afterparty's Zoe Chao team up with Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher for this feel-good film about two longtime best friends who swap homes and realize just how much the other means to them.

Chao says it felt surreal to play the role of Minka, who essentially becomes Witherspoon's fashionable onscreen BFF and wing woman in the movie.

"It was kind of wild. I will be honest, the first couple of weeks, I had to get used to it. Because, you know, she's been a huge star and in all the films that I grew up watching and love," Chao told Narcity.

"She's also such a huge game changer for women in this industry and, just a real movie star. I don't know if little Zoe even had the dream to be like, one day, I will be in a movie with Reese Witherspoon and I will play her best friend. Saying that out loud is moving."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Williams, who plays Theo in the film, says it was refreshing to tackle a movie role now that his 11-year run on Grey's Anatomy has ended.

"It's kind of the first time I'm able to sign on to new things, they have a beginning, a middle and an end," he said.

"Just learn both about myself and what others are doing and this [film] is a great example of that, especially from Aline [Brosh McKenna] and Reese [Witherspoon]."

Theo and Debbie, played by Witherspoon, get to connect over books in the film and Debbie soon contemplates a career path she didn't get to pursue.

That's an issue Williams knows something about, as there is one career he's been thinking about since he was a kid.

"I'd love to possibly still take the bar and go and explore civil rights law," he explained in his interview with Narcity.

"That world is always going to remain central to my life and be where my heart is."

Your Place or Mine also centres heavily on two people swapping homes and lives.

Chao says if she had the opportunity to do something like that in her own life, she would go much more international than her character in the film did.

"I think like a grandmother in Japan I think that would be cool. I just really want to spend some time in Japan," she noted.

Your Place Or Mine | Official Trailer | Netflixwww.youtube.com

Williams says thanks to acting, he gets to swap lives all the time.

"I think it does develop empathy and interest and curiosity for other walks of life and other ways people experience and see the world," he shared.

Aside from the two themes, the movie also centres heavily on love, which is very fitting with V-Day coming up.

When we asked Williams what he would recommend for a date night, the actor says keeping it simple is the way to go.

"It's not the place where you go crazy on some adventurous trip. It's like a really lovely dinner and a movie (...) where you really have to be present with another person," he explained.

Perhaps this time around that movie can be Your Place or Mine which will be available on Netflix starting February 10.

Williams, Chao, Witherspoon and Kutcher star in the film alongside Tig Notaro, Steve Zahn, and Wesley Kimmel.

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    • Senior Writer

      Asymina Kantorowicz (she/her) was a Senior Writer for Narcity Media. She has worked at Yahoo Canada, CTV News Vancouver Island, CTV News Channel, and CHCH News. Over the past eight years, she took on various newsroom roles and helped produce award-winning newscasts. Loving the fast-paced environment of any newsroom, she helped cover stories like the 2016 royal visit to Victoria, the 2019 B.C. manhunt, and provincial elections. She had an MA in journalism and a BA in media from Western University. She moved from Toronto to Victoria a few years ago and loved being close to the ocean.

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