The Other Zoey is a fun romantic comedy with a novel twist. Zoey Miller (Josephine Langford) finds herself on vacation with Zach MacLaren (Drew Starkey) and his family, after the football star suffers a concussion and confuses her for his girlfriend, also coincidentally named Zoey. On the vacation, Zoey finds herself in close quarters with Zach’s cousin Miles and must choose who she wants to be with while also maintaining the ruse that she is the right Zoey.

The film is the sophomore feature directorial effort by Sara Zandieh, who is also known for her first feature A Simple Wedding (which she also co-wrote) and multiple episodes of the show Good Girls. In The Other Zoey, Zandieh has crafted a movie that is nostalgic in the best way; the heightened concept and good-natured humor of the film will likely please anyone who enjoyed the romantic comedies of the early 2000s. Still, The Other Zoey also offers plenty that is new, and is grounded by Josephine Langford’s strong performance as Zoey.

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Sara Zandieh spoke with Screen Rant about finding the tone of The Other Zoey, expanding on the film’s strongest supporting characters, and more. Note: This interview was conducted during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, and the movie covered here would not exist without the labor of the actors in that union. This interview has also been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Sara Zandieh On The Other Zoey

Screen Rant: The first thing I want to ask you goes back to the beginning. How did you find this script, and what made you want to direct it?

Sara Zandieh: The script came to me through my agents. I had made a rom-com a couple years ago called A Simple Wedding, so I think they thought it was kind of similar. They sent me the script, I read it and it was just a really fun read. It was quirky, and amusing, and heartwarming, and it explored the theme of love, which is something I always try to explore in my work. It was just a really cute, fun movie, and I really liked the main character. I had also seen Josephine's work and I was excited that she was taking it on. She was attached already, so I was really excited to work with her and see her take on a comedic role.

It feels to me almost like the kind of movie I grew up watching in the early 2000s because it has a heightened premise and so much comedy, but still a lot of heart. Did it feel to you like this is the kind of movie that is maybe not as common these days?

Sara Zandieh: I also grew up watching a lot of 90s rom-coms. I loved that whole decade of comedies like Clueless, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Groundhog Day, and My Best Friend's Wedding. The Birdcage is one of my favorite movies, [as is] Pretty Woman. So, yeah, I kind of felt nostalgic; it took me back to the ‘90s when I was a teenager.

I also love John Hughes. He's one of my favorite directors. When I was in high school, we didn't have a YA category; we just had John Hughes movies. I loved Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller and Pretty in Pink and 16 Candles and Weird Science. I feel like Josephine also reminds me a bit of Molly Ringwald, so I was just excited to do a new spin on it.

I miss movies like that, that are just fun and that you can share with your family and your friends, [and] that kind of bring everyone together. And they explore the themes of love, fate, compatibility and, in this case, memory. I was excited to do something that everyone can kind of share in. It’s definitely a feel-good movie.

I also love the people involved. Everyone was very big-hearted, from the producers to the cast to the crew. There were just a lot of really good people coming together to make a really wonderful movie.

I know your last film, A Simple Wedding, came out of somewhere that was pretty personal for you. I'm not sure if you've ever been the other Zoey, but is it different to work on something where maybe you weren't as emotionally involved from the get-go?

Sara Zandieh: It is different because I am a writer/director but I just directed this; I did not write the screenplay. But I love working with writers, I love developing stuff with writers, and I am starting to direct more material that isn't personal or just my own. But I totally gravitate towards certain writers that I think have a similar sensibility and a similar sense of humor.

And I could definitely relate to the character of Zoey. She's a very intellectual, in her head, [and is] a very thoughtful character. I think throughout the movie, she learns to get out of her head and into the world, and that was something I could definitely relate to.

I didn't know Josephine was already attached. When you're casting the other characters like Zach, and everything, are you collaborating with Josephine on finding those people?

Sara Zandieh: Some of them, yeah. Josephine was involved, but so were the producers, and we had a really great casting director. I think this movie has some of the most exciting young actors working today that are coming up and breaking into adult films. I was really excited that Drew (Starkey) signed on, and Archie (Renaux); they’re so great. We made this movie around the holidays--it was around Thanksgiving and Christmas--so I think everyone was excited to do a funny, family-friendly comedy. It was a good climate for it.

You have a lot of really, really fun supporting characters in this also. Did those roles end up being the same as they were in the script that you first read, or were there any that you wanted to expand on as you were in production?

Sara Zandieh: Because we got such great cast members in the supporting roles, their roles were expanded. There were a couple more lines, [and] and we did a little bit of improv. We wanted to give everyone a good amount of screen time, because we pulled off such an incredible cast. Jorge Lopéz was also [in] a really fun supporting role, and we were really excited to have him and gave him a bit more. It was hard to trim it down. Everybody was so good, we wanted to give everyone a good amount of screen time.

This is your second romantic comedy. Is there another genre that's kicking around in your head that you want to jump into next, or do you want to kind of keep exploring this world?

Sara Zandieh: I'm actually in post-production on another romantic comedy, so that will be my third. It’s more of a sex comedy, but it has a rom-com component to it. I have a sense of humor; it's the way I approach the world. It's the way I move through the world. I grew up in a really funny family, so humor is always going to be a part of my voice. I think life is not always funny, but not always tragic. I think there is a lot of catharsis in art; in my family, laughing and humor was sort of the art of survival, so I think that's always going to be a part of whatever I do.

I'd love to do a drama with humor. I mean, there are always going to be humorous elements. I'm really dying to do a dramatic biopic, or like a family drama, or something that leans a little more dramatic than what I've been doing. That is something I'd love to do, but I'll never make a horror film, that's for sure. It’s just not in me.

About The Other Zoey

Zoey Miller (Josephine Langford), a smart computer major who thinks she has love all figured out, has her life turned upside down when Zach (Drew Starkey), a popular college soccer player, gets amnesia and mistakes Zoey as his girlfriend. Before she can reveal the truth, she meets Zach’s cousin, Miles (Archie Renaux), with whom she has a lot in common. Pretending to be Zach’s girlfriend, she realizes she has feelings for both of them and is forced to confront her fears to make an impossible decision.

The Other Zoey releases in theaters on October 20th, and hits On Demand on November 10th.