Do you believe in love at first sight? In destiny? Star-crossed lovers?
Well, The Sun Is Also A Star explores those very possibilities with two of the prettiest people in Hollywood.
Per the film’s press release:
College-bound romantic Daniel Bae and Jamaica-born pragmatist Natasha Kingsley meet—and fall for each other—over one magical day amidst the fervor and flurry of New York City. Sparks immediately fly between these two strangers, who might never have met had fate not given them a little push. But will fate be enough to take these teens from star-crossed to lucky in love? With just hours left on the clock in what looks to be her last day in the U.S., Natasha is fighting against her family’s deportation as fiercely as she’s fighting her budding feelings for Daniel, who is working just as hard to convince her they are destined to be together.
Yara Shahidi (Grown-ish) stars as Natasha and Charles Melton (Riverdale) stars as her love interest Daniel. The film is directed by Ry Russo-Young and is based on the bestselling book of the same name by Nicola Yoon.
In the above exclusive clip for The Root, Yara touched on the concept of destiny, her favorite books (there’s some James Baldwin in there, duh!), and navigating her racial identity. Yes, the sun is also a star, but so is Yara.
Since this is a love story, does Yara even believe in “love at first sight?” Well, for Yara it’s not an abstract concept, it’s what she sees everyday in her own home.
“I do, because my parents’ story is pretty incredible,” Yara exclaimed with a joyful smile, noting that her mother, actress Keri Shahidi knew immediately that photographer Afshin Shahidi would be her husband.
The Sun Is Also A Star releases in theaters May 17.