Warning: Spoilers ahead for “You, Me & Tuscany.”
There’s a moment in “You, Me & Tuscany” that transports audiences back to the early aughts, specifically 2004.
During one scene in the romantic comedy, Halle Bailey’s Anna gets into Regé-Jean Page’s Michael’s car and Mario’s Grammy-nominated hit “Let Me Love You” blasts through the stereo. Anna is befuddled at the reserved winemaker’s classic R&B selection.
“I just didn’t expect this from you,” she tells him.
Michael asks, “What does that mean?”
When she says that she pictured him as the type of guy who listens to podcasts, he quips, “So, boring?”
“Well, yes,” she nods.
In “You, Me & Tuscany,” Anna, who recently lost her job and residence, is inspired to book a trip to Italy after meeting a charming Italian man named Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor). Matteo happens to own a villa that is currently sitting empty — and, unbeknownst to him, is where Anna finds herself staying during her Tuscan getaway.
Once there, she meets the handsome Michael, who thinks she is his cousin Matteo’s fiancée after Anna’s caught living in the villa. In over her head as Matteo’s family starts to plan their wedding, Anna begins to develop feelings for Michael.
After the car ride scene, “Let Me Love You” continues to be part of the storyline when Matteo’s mom tells Anna about a family wedding tradition that includes a singing portion. She asks Michael to stand in for Matteo (who is nowhere in sight and has no idea Anna is in Italy) and he jokingly sings “Let Me Love You” to Anna. The song also plays an emotional and crucial part at the end of the film.
“There was always a musical moment in the script. What the song was going to be actually came in relatively late,” Page tells TODAY.com during a sit-down interview in Napa, California. “We just kind of wanted to find the right vibe, to find what worked between the characters, to find something that was both surprising and familiar. I think we landed somewhere really fun.”
The actor notes that after watching the film, “People kept bringing it up. So I’m assuming that that’s a pretty fun takeaway.”
Page also jokes that singing in front of Bailey, a Grammy-nominated singer who is one-half of the duo Chloe x Halle and also a solo artist, was “terrifying.”
Bailey, on her end, applauds her co-star, saying, “He has a great voice.”
Producer Will Packer speaks more in-depth with TODAY.com about the inclusion of “Let Me Love You” and why that song was chosen.
“Mario’s song, ‘Let Me Love You’ is thematically, really, the anchor of this movie. And we needed something that would make our character, (Anna), feel like, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m so surprised (by) Mr. Rigid, stiff, hot-looking guy, British Regé, playing Michael. What’s he doing listening to this?!’” Packer explains. “We needed a song that has some flavor to it. We need a classic song that audiences would know.”
Director Kat Coiro adds that she loved that “Let Me Love You” is “about valuing a woman and having her recognize her worth, because that is part of the journey that Anna goes on.”
“She falls in love with herself. And that song, I think, really keys into how women want (and deserve) to be treated,” she says.
The team, they say, discussed a number of songs that would work for the film.
“But without a doubt, we landed on the perfect one,” Packer says. “We went through a lot of songs to figure out what would capture that same energy we’re talking about. Mario won.”
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