Rege-Jean Page says new Tuscany-set romance film ‘little bit’ like Roman Holiday

By Hannah Roberts, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter

Bridgerton actor Rege-Jean Page has said a new Tuscany-based film he stars in will remind viewers of classic romantic comedy Roman Holiday.

You, Me And Tuscany is a tale of mistaken identity that follows Anna, played by Halle Bailey, as she stays in the villa of a man she has a chance encounter with – without his permission.

Anna’s European getaway is jeopardised when Matteo’s mother Gabriella, played by Isabella Ferrari, shows up at the house and believes Anna to be Matteo’s fiancee, which becomes more of a problem when Anna meets Matteo’s cousin Michael (Page), her love interest in the film.

Page, 37, who is most known for playing Simon Basset in Netflix romance series Bridgerton, said rom-coms often get a “short wrap” and are not as widely made anymore.

He said: “When you stop making rom-coms, you stop making movies where people resolve their problems with talking to each other, and I think that is something we’ve lost, and the whole kind of ‘they don’t make them like this anymore.’

“What they don’t make is movies where people talk and figure out who they are and fall in love because of who they are and overcome the obstacles because of who they are, as opposed to just who punches hardest with the most CGI.”

Speaking about the film, he added: “It does speak to the classics. So there’s a little bit of Roman Holiday.

“You are stepping into another world, and you’re curious about other people, and you learn about other people, you find those missing pieces of yourself… the world is incomplete without love, you cannot understand each other unless you are willing to take yourself out of your comfort zone and fall in love with another who is not you.”

Audrey Hepburn won an Oscar for her role in the 1953 rom-com, another tale of mistaken identity, where she played a European princess visiting Rome.

Page also compared the film to 1993’s Sleepless In Seattle, explaining: “This movie isn’t just about the romantic love leads. It’s about family. It’s about the people you love in your life, and where responsibility lies with that.”

Sleepless In Seattle follows Tom Hanks’s character Sam Baldwin as he moves to the city with his son following the death of his wife and falls for Annie Reed, played by Meg Ryan.

Page added: “I think that a lot of what you get in a lot of these classic rom-coms and romances is finding the person who unlocks the pieces of you that you are denying yourself. I think that’s what’s really fun to play with.”

Bailey, 25, said: “I truly wanted to be a part of this project because when I read the script, I was like, ‘This is a movie I want to watch with my sister. This is a movie (where) I want to be with my girls on the couch.'”

The release date for You, Me And Tuscany, directed by Kat Coiro, will be announced in due course.