Written by Jenna Shapiro and Melissa LaBruna
Girls and grandmas alike, along with the occasional tag-along boyfriend or husband, filed into theaters to be taken on a no-expense trip to Verona, Italy, the site notorious for Romeo and Juliet’s tragic romance. On Friday, May 14th, this legendary city became the location of yet another complicated love affair, this time between Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and Charlie (Chris Egan) in the new rom-com Letters to Juliet.

Sophie, an American journalist, travels to Verona with her soon-to-be husband while he pursues his culinary ambitions. While sight-seeing in the city, Sophie becomes acquainted with a group of women known as the Secretaries of Juliet who respond to love letters posted on a Verona wall by broken-hearted women. After befriending the Secretaries, Sophie assists in writing replies to the letters, one of which was wedged deep between the wall’s crevices, long-forgotten. The letter had been written by a woman named Clare (Vanessa Redgrave) fifty years ago, asking for advice regarding her true love Lorenzo.
Sophie writes to the letter’s address, unsure if it would even be received. However, a week later, Clare and her unwilling nephew Charlie come to Verona, to find Lorenzo. While Sophie’s fiancé Victor is busy at a wine auction, Sophie embarks on an odyssey with Clare and Charlie traveling around Italy in search of Clare’s lost love. Throughout the journey, an unexpected friendship develops between Sophie and Charlie.
“Letters to Juliet definitely lives up to the hype,” says freshman Meredith Kline, “I went from laughing to crying to laughing again throughout the whole movie. Amanda Seyfried is an incredible actress. She really made the chemistry believable.”
Seyfried’s love connection on film has strengthened her fans’ adoration towards her. Her first major role in Mean Girls did not make her seem like the lovable type, but since then she has proven that the harsh character she played in the movie has no relation to her truly endearing personality.
“People still come up to me and say, ‘You were really funny in that,’ and I’m like, It’s not me. I think I impressed a lot of people in Mean Girls. I don’t know how I pulled that off,” Seyfried told Teen Vogue.
Seyfried went into Letters to Juliet with years of experience that have allowed her to blossom into the versatile actress that the movie industry relies on. After her big-screen debut in Mean Girls, she went on to star in the hit Broadway musical Mamma Mia! when it was brought to film in 2008. Her character as the fun-loving, carefree Sophie Sheridan, called on Seyfried’s musical abilities to fulfill the character’s potential. 
With leads in two horror films, Jennifer’s Body (2008) and Chloe (2009), Seyfried had to adjust from her prominent chick flick roles. Both movies gained great viewership, justifying Seyfried’s success.
She said, “It’s fun to play characters who have these ideals you don’t have.”
In between the two thrillers, she impressed audiences yet again with her remarkable versatility when she played Savannah Curtis in the romantic drama, Dear John. An extremely anticipated movie with numerous Facebook groups, the film racked in $30.5 million exclusively in the first weekend and a jaw-dropping $80 million total.
Her role in Dear John prepared her well for Letters to Juliet. Her numerous roles as women going through the trials of love have given her her own perspective on the matter.
She told Teen Vogue, “Love is great and possible, always, but it’s very rare to have the feeling that ‘I want to be want to be with this person forever.’”

Seyfried offers a great amount of passion into her on-screen relationships, but what’s a love story without Prince Charming? In Letters to Juliet, Chris Egan took on this prestigious role, admirably embodying his (somewhat) charming character, Charlie.
Unlike Seyfried, however, Egan’s rise to fame was much more low key. In his film debut Eragon, he played the supporting role of Eragon’s cousin, Roran. This movie, based on the New York Times best-seller, was popular as expected, but Egan was not particularly recognized. His minor roles in Virgin Territory and Resident Evil: Extinction led up to his major role in the thriller Crush in which he was able to use his gymnastic abilities. 
Among his movies, Letters to Juliet has given Egan the largest fan base, but the fame has not gotten to his head. Reflecting back on his time with costar Amanda Seyfried, Egan had nothing but positive things to say.
He told writer Lee Shoquist, “We had a lot of natural chemistry. If you are in a romantic comedy, you want to really click with the person and I feel like that shows onscreen. You can’t manufacture it really when it is just natural and you are both having fun. And she’s not bad to look at! She is very beautiful. So the hard part was just being very unpleasant to her. They do not have a romance straight away—it actually builds. Sophie is close to Amanda’s personality, so you are seeing very much of who she is. She is a very down-to-earth person who doesn’t take herself seriously. She is fun and crazy, like me, so we had a blast.”
About love, Egan told ATN Zone, “I think you have to be lucky to be in the right place at the right time, which goes with everything—romance or career. What you put in is what you get out in life. I definitely think it depends where the person is. If someone is going through a hard time in their life and closed off, you might not see that person.”

Seyfried and Egan happened to be right place at the right time during their careers and were able to develop a very believable romance. Their exceptional performances in Letters to Juliet enhanced the movie’s effect, causing viewers, like Kline, to laugh and cry and laugh again.