But is there something more between their characters, Jamie and Ben, or are they truly just friends?
Is there something that someone has not asked you that you wish you’d been asked?
JORDAN WEISS:That’s such a good question.
Nico Hiraga and Kiernan Shipka in ‘Sweethearts’.Anthony Platt/Max
This is such a silly thing, but I feel like no one’s asked me about Easter eggs.
I literally stole everything that said the Densen Terriers off of the set.
WEISS:That’s going to be my question for you: Did you take anything?
Kiernan Shipka, Nico Hiraga, and director/co-writer Jordan Weiss on the set of ‘Sweethearts’.Courtesy of Jordan Weiss
SHIPKA:No, I didn’t take anything from set.
I’m always so bad at taking stuff from set.
I feel like I should know better by now.
Nico Hiraga and Kiernan Shipka in ‘Sweethearts’.Courtesy of Max
[Laughs]
WEISS:Your jacket that you wore was so cute.
[Laughs]
WEISS:[Laughs] Yeah.
Courtesy of Max
SHIPKA:That’s pretty amazing.
Kiernan Shipka, director Jordan Weiss, and Nico Hiraga on the set of ‘Sweethearts’.Courtesy of Jordan Weiss
But no, I didn’t take anything besides the memories.
I really am very unskilled at taking something from set.
I think until really recently, it was still in my bra drawer.
Nico Hiraga and Kiernan Shipka in ‘Sweethearts’.Cara Howe/Max
Me and Dan picked some.
SHIPKA:Oh,Crazy, Stupid, Loveis such a good movie.
That is one of my favorite Easter eggs.
Nico Hiraga in ‘Sweethearts’.Cara Howe/Max
SHIPKA:I think that was one of my favorite things about the movie.
Were you nervous going into it?
I was so nervous before our first Zoom when I knew you had read and liked the script.
Director Jordan Weiss on the set of ‘Sweethearts’.Cara Howe/Max
I was like, “At this point, she likes the script.
Only my personality can ruin this.”
[Laughs]
SHIPKA:[Laughs] No, it made it!
Kiernan Shipka in ‘Sweethearts’.Anthony Platt/Max
WEISS:I remember being really nervous.
I drew all of my confidence on set from the way that you made me feel.
Nico said he wants to play a Yakuza mobster.
Jamie Lee Curtis (L) and Lindsay Lohan on the set of ‘Freakier Friday’.Disney
SHIPKA:That’s such a good question.
I’ve always said I really want to do a musical.
I really want to sing and dance my ass off.
Jamie Lee Curtis at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of ‘The Last Showgirl’.Geoff Robins/getty
I think it’d be so fun.
I grew up just adoring musical theater and musicals.
WEISS:What?!
Photo strip collage of ‘Sweethearts’ director Jordan Weiss, co-writer Dan Brier, and stars Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga.courtesy of Jordan Weiss
Do you want to come seeWickedwith me tomorrow?
SHIPKA:I sawWickedsix times on stage.
It’s hitting me now.
And I thought Nico was going to absolutely jump out of the car.
[Laughs] That was the one channel that he couldn’t match the energy.
He was like, “I will blast my cool playlist, but I do not know musicals.”
WEISS:You really didn’t break that much.
WEISS:A hundred percent.
And I think that’s why I love what you guys did.
The characters are taking it seriously.
What, in general, surprised you about Nico?
It just felt like that instant sort of soul connection thing.
He’s a closet sweetie pie, though.
I think that surprised me because you never know.
He’s this cool skater boy.
WEISS:Yeah, you never know.
I remember seeing him look at his phone and being like, “What are you looking at?”
I miss San Francisco."
[Laughs]
SHIPKA:That boy loves San Francisco, and he loves his parents.
It’s so sweet.
His soul is very pure.
WEISS:I feel like you’re both very close with your families.
You both love your moms.
That is a Keeks and Neeks special.
SHIPKA:It’s true.
WEISS:[Laughs] Okay.
Were you nervous about the kiss?
Obviously, you have had love interests in other projects that you’ve been in.
Do those scenes not phase you at all?
Talk to me about the kiss.
SHIPKA:See, I don’t really don’t get nervous for the kiss of it all.
I was excited slash thinking more about the scene leading up to it than I was the actual kiss.
SHIPKA:I kissed someone inMad Men.
I kissed someone inFlowers in the Attic, which was Ellen Burstyn…I did not kiss Ellen Burstyn!
[Laughs]
WEISS:Definitely print that.
SHIPKA:[Laughs] you’re free to!
But I kissed Mason Dye inFlowers in the Attic.
I also kissed a boy in this Hallmark movie calledSmoochwhen I was maybe 10.
I definitely had my first three or four kiss moments on screen.
Got my TV period before my real period all the things I got prepped for before the real deal.
There were scenes that I definitely thought about.
I wanted to give you guys all the time in the world to emotionally dig into that.
[Laughs]
SHIPKA:Woman screaming in New Jersey.
[Laughs]
WEISS:Yeah, truly.
Random, guttural scream.
SHIPKA:Well, you did a good job not stressing us out.
WEISS:It was so fast.
We are going to spend our longest night on this important emotional scene."
SHIPKA:That’s so sweet.
I’ve been doing this for coming on 19 years, which is so wild to me.
And I love that.
I admire directing so much.
WEISS:Start with writing, and then you’ll graduate.
I think that is part of why we connected so well and I think that’s so cool.
SHIPKA:I also like writing for my characters, little journal entries.
WEISS:Did you do any Jamie character work that maybe I don’t even know you did?
SHIPKA:I unpacked that bee-sting moment it was really important to me.
We all have those core childhood wounds that shape how we act as adults.
WEISS:Even though it’s so stupid.
Every time I watch with an audience, I’m like,this is so stupid.
[Laughs]
SHIPKA:Well, some can be really silly, but our brains are super-elastic.
WEISS:That was pulled from stuff in middle school.
No one was ever being made fun of for something that made any sense.
It was always something so crazy like that.
She was quite wound up and didn’t really know how thick her walls were.
Her villain origin story.
Are you excited aboutFreakier Friday?
WEISS:I am excited!
SHIPKA:Were you on set for most of it?
Disney
WEISS:I wouldn’t say most of it.
It was nice because they were shooting in L.A., so I could pop in and out.
It is a project that so many people care about.
So it definitely is a different kind of pressure, but it’s my first rodeo with that.
SHIPKA:Were you a fan of the original like pretty much everyone?
WEISS:Oh, absolutely.
I remember seeing it in theaters with my mom when I was 10 years old.
And now we’re both Jamie Lee Curtis heads.
SHIPKA:We’re Jamie Hive.
SHIPKA:What should Jamie Lee Curtis fans be called?
WEISS:You’re really good at this.
You’re going to come up with a good one.
SHIPKA:Jamie Lee Curtisans…Curtistans!
WEISS:Jamie Lee Curtistans!
We are such Jamie Lee Curtistans!
SHIPKA:I would say I’m in the top .0001% of Jamie Lee Curtistans.
It’s so amazing to see her just in her full…Curtistan moment.
She is so wise and so grounded.
I feel like this is your main character, leading lady rom-com moment.
SHIPKA:Yeah, absolutely!
It was a littleLove Actually.
WEISS:How do you feel about being a rom-com leading lady?
Because I think you’re destined to be an iconic one.
SHIPKA:I’m obsessed.
I love watching rom-coms.
I love being in them.
I’ll just keep doing them.
I have one weird dream about them and then start questioning everything.
Okay, you’re promoting three movies right now.
SHIPKA:The variations are so endless.
WEISS:I keep thinking of Pam Anderson, Caleb, and the Rock at your house.
SHIPKA:[Laughs] You’re right!
This is a perfect dinner.
I need to see it immediately, and I need to be there, too.
WEISS:We need to have a combined cast party for your three movies.
It’s Shipka Fall.
SHIPKA:This is why I usually have a holiday party.
SHIPKA:We are going to get the Rock and Pam Anderson under the same roof!
WEISS:With Caleb!
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
