After Everything brings the Hardin and Tessa story to an end, but Josephine Langford barely plays a part in the final movie.
Josephine Langford rose to fame after being cast as the main character in the film series After. The series is based on the young adult book series of the same name written by Anna Todd. The story was originally a fan-fiction about the band members of One Direction, but Todd was able to transform her work into a bestselling novel series. Langford portrayed Tessa Young in the film series, which began in 2019 and came to an end in 2023.
Though the main character of the films and at the center of the alluring romance, Josephine Langford was missing from most of the final film After Everything. Though she is listed as a starring role and technically appears in the movie, it is mostly through flashbacks of old Langford footage. Fans were outraged by her absence, and rightfully so. Here’s why Josephine Langford is barely in After Everything.
What Is The ‘After’ Movie Series About?
The After film franchise has been a constant for the past five years. The films first started releasing in 2019, and since then the franchise has put out one movie per year. The fifth and final movie was released in September 2023.
After is a young adult story about characters Tessa Young and Hardin Scott. The characters are played by Josephine Langford and Hero Tiffin respectively. It is a story of young love, heartbreak, drama, and plenty of steamy scenes.
The films are actually based off the book series of the same name written by Anna Todd. She originally wrote the story as a fan-fiction, specifically a fan-fiction based in an alternate universe. Todd wrote about the boy band One Direction. The character Hardin is actually based on Harry Styles.
Todd’s book series comprises four books. The first four films in the series follow the books, except for the ending of the fourth movie. The film studios recognized how successful the films were and decided to add a fifth film to the franchise, which resulted in a different ending to the fourth film than the books and in the series overall.
‘After’ Series Expanded To Five Films
As previously mentioned, while Anna Todd’s book series only consists of four books, the film franchise has five films.
Expanding the film franchise is not uncommon in the entertainment industry. Many franchises end on a two-parter, such as Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. This is particularly popular in young adult stories based on books, as it allows for the final book to be more fleshed out on screen.
When it was announced ahead of the fourth film release that there would be a fifth film in the After series, the first assumption of fans was that they would split the book in half.
Fans were very surprised when, instead of doing what is traditional for young adult franchises, the fourth movie told the whole story. However, the film ended very differently than the book. This meant that the fifth movie would be entirely written by the screenwriters and not based on Todd’s books.
This bothered many fans, as it felt more like a cash-grabbing move by the movie studios as opposed to being true to Todd’s story.
Not only that, but it also concerned fans about the appearance of their favorite characters, as everyone’s contracts were originally only for four movies.
Is Josephine Langford In ‘After Everything’?
The After franchise has had a hard time keeping actors since the beginning. Many actors have not returned to reprise their roles and were recast.
Peter Gallagher portrayed Ken Scott, the father of Hero Tiffin’s character. The character was later played by Rob Estes. Charlie Weber’s role of Christian Vance was turned over to Stephen Moyer, who is famous for playing Bill Compton in True Blood. Candice Accola was replaced by Arielle Kebbel.
Even Shane Paul McGhie’s Landon Gibson was recast. Chance Perdomo took over the role in later films.
Most of these casting changes were due to the global pandemic. While the After series continued to be filmed throughout the pandemic, many actors and actresses did not want to return to set and chose to be with family during the hard times instead.
It does not seem like this was the case for Josephine Langford, however.
After appearing in the leading role for four films, Langford took a purposeful step back from the role and the franchise during the fifth and final film. Though she is technically in the movie, it is mostly through flashbacks which use older footage of Langford.
Josephine Langford does appear in the proposal scene at the end of the film.
Her decision to not be a large part of the film caused writers to create a story line based solely around the character Hardin Scott. He spends the movie improving and changing for the better in order to win back the love of his life.
Why Josephine Langford Did Not Return To ‘After’ Films
The cast of After Everything, the fifth and final film of the After series, have remained quiet since the movie’s release in September 2023. This is particularly true of Josephine Langford, as she has not discussed her reduced role in the film.
Since she has not discussed her absence, fans have several theories about her not returning to play Tessa Young.
Originally, Langford was only signed on to film four movies for the series. When negotiating a fifth film, fans think she did not receive what she was asking for and chose to bow out. Another theory is that she did not want to continue playing the character for fear of being type-casted in the future.
Langford did discuss the possibility of coming back to the character in 2021 with StyleCaster, and even then it did not seem likely that she would continue to be involved in the franchise.
“I would want to come back if it was important, and it made sense,” Langford said. “I’m not a fan of overstaying your welcome. It can sometimes dampen a good thing if you’re creating something and it’s canon, and it doesn’t have a reason.”
Langford said this in reference to creating a prequel or sequel that was not based on the original work of Anna Todd. While the fifth movie technically does not qualify as either, it is not based on the original story and is therefore not canon to Todd’s work.
It seems Langford either was ready to move on or did not agree with changing the story.
