In the new movie After, Josephine Langford stars as Tessa, a young woman transitioning into adulthood as she starts her first semester of college. At home, she had always been a responsible daughter and girlfriend to her high school sweetheart. But when she meets the brooding, mysterious Hardin Scott (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin), her entire world is shaken up. Tessa is suddenly doing things she’s never done before, experiencing things she never thought she would — but is it because of Hardin, or is it because she’s finally been given the opportunity to discover things herself? Either way, it’s clear that after meeting Hardin, nothing is the same.
The film is the first major project for Josephine, who previously performed in a couple of shorts and appeared in a few episodes of Wolf Creek. Nabbing the role of Tessa was a pretty big deal. The film is based on the mega-popular After book series by Anna Todd, whose novels were inspired by One Direction fan fiction starring Harry Styles that she previously wrote for Wattpad, which attracted a devoted fan base. Josephine chatted with Teen Vogue about the romantic drama, support from the fandom, and more.
Teen Vogue: How did you get into performing and what was your first audition like?
Josephine Langford: Acting is something that I’ve always wanted to do and been interested in. For me, it was just sort of a process of figuring out how to get into the industry because I grew up in a city which isn’t industry heavy. I think my first audition was for a local musical. It was quick. I didn’t get the role.
TV: What are some of your favorite movies?
JL: I have a tendency to drift toward action. Some of my favorite films are Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Dark Knight, Inception, The Fifth Element, and Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Avengers. That sort of stuff. In terms of just a good movie to watch, I’ll watch everything and anything, except horror. That gets me scared.
TV: The fandom for After is huge. Were you familiar with the book series before joining the movie?
JL: I had no idea that the books existed and that there was this huge thing that everyone else seemed to know about except for me. I think that when I was 14, I stumbled across it online. So I had the feeling that I had read the first pages of the fan fiction [it was based on] online, but no.
TV: What first stood out to you about Tessa, and what do you think makes her relatable?
JL: Just a lot of little things are what made me want to do it and attracted me to the rawness of the story. I just read the book, and I read the script, and I felt like I understood the way that she thought. I wanted to make sure that she wasn’t portrayed as a caricature, ’cause I feel like there’s an expectation for girls to dress a certain way, or be conservative, or they’re intelligent but portrayed as, like, these two-dimensional good girls, so there was just something about the character in the story where I was like, “I want to be the one to do that, because I want to get it right.”
I think that there’s just something really relatable about her, which is what this story is about; and about the first time you read a poem or the first time you move away from your family, or you go to college and meet new people. Or you have a first love or a first relationship. With Tessa, I think I have to give all the credit to Anna Todd, the author of the novels, because I think she was just able to write her in a way where everyone reading it would relate to her in some way or another.
JL: He was great. He’s wonderful. For both of us, this is our first big leading role. It was nice to go on this journey with someone who was in a similar boat to me.
TV: A lot of people know After because it was based on Harry Styles fan fiction from Wattpad, but the book obviously has Hardin as his own character. What was your reaction when you first heard the character was loosely an extension of the former One Direction member?
JL: I didn’t really have one. I spoke to Anna, and we’ve talked about this so much, and Anna said this so many times, that for her, One Direction and Harry Styles and everything, it inspired the fan fiction, basically, just by their faces. They really have nothing to do with the story, and nothing to do with the characters, and nothing in common. Even physically, like the way they’re described in the book, their faces are full of piercings and all this stuff. The story really has nothing to do with Harry Styles or One Direction. When I came on board, and I read the book, and I read the script, there was nothing in the book or script that even alluded to that. So I didn’t really have a reaction to it, other than [that] I thought it was amazing that she had created this work which has touched so many people in some way, just basically by writing fan fiction as a hobby, about one of her favorite bands. I think that’s really cool.
TV: There are some pretty steamy scenes in the movie, including one in which Tess and Hardin go swimming in the lake. What was it like getting yourself mentally prepared to do those scenes?
JL: Well, I had never shot an intimate scene before, so obviously coming on board and knowing that there were a few of them, I was like, “OK, what’s this going to be like?” It wasn’t fear, it was just, I don’t know, curious anticipation? But then we were really lucky that we had a one-week rehearsal period and a lot of those more intimate things, we blocked them out and choreographed them like a dance; [it was] very technical. By the time we shot them, it was toward the end of the shoot, when we were really comfortable with all of the crew. Even though going into it I didn’t really know what it was going to be like, I was shocked by how easy and how professional it was; how comfortable I was during the whole thing.
TV: If you were in Tessa’s shoes, would you be able to forgive Hardin for how everything went down?
JL: I don’t know what I would do. If I was in love with a guy, and he did things that Hardin did… I have friends of mine who say that they would never forgive their partner if their partner cheated on them, and then they’d fall madly in love with someone, their partner cheats, and they forgive them and move on. I feel like this sort of stuff is hard to know what you would do or predict what you would do when in love if you’re not in that situation.
TV: What has been your favorite memory of this whole journey with After?
JL: Honestly, I think it’s the fans. I didn’t get the opportunity to meet a lot of them while we were filming, so now that we’re on this press tour, I’ve been able to meet so many of them at events, book signings, and everything. Just seeing how happy people are. That one of their favorite books has turned into a movie, and it has come to life. There’s something so rewarding about it, when you see that you’ve done something, it doesn’t matter how minor, that has made someone happy. I don’t want to say it’s nice to see people cry, because of course it isn’t, but there’s something really emotional and lovely about seeing the impact you’re having on someone’s life.
