Regé-Jean Page speaks out on the importance of diversity in romcoms: "You've got to put that aspirational imagery out there"

Even in 2026, it's still shockingly rare to find a theatrically released romcom with two Black leads – especially when we consider only those backed by major Hollywood studios.

But new film You, Me and Tuscany very much fits the bill. The movie stars The Little Mermaid's Halle Bailey as ambitious young cook Anna, who impulsively heads to Tuscany after spending the night with an Italian man who off-handedly told her she was welcome to stay in his villa if ever she was in Italy.

When she arrives, she ends up squatting in his abandoned home, and after his somewhat eccentric family find her there she decides her only course of action to is to pose as his fiancé. Naturally, this leads to all sorts of mix-ups – not to mention sparks flying between Anna and the Italian's adopted brother Michael (Regé-Jean Page).

The film is very much of a piece with from the old-school brand of escapist, sun-soaked romcoms – complete with no shortage of cheese – and speaking with Radio Times ahead of release, the two stars explained why it was so important for a film like this to have two Black leads.

"I mean, I think it's important to show us living big, aspirational, normal lives," former Bridgerton star Page said during our exclusive interview.

"Like, real stories... our lives," Bailey agreed. "It's beautiful to see on screen, and I'm grateful to be a part of this and have two Black leads in a romcom that's in theatres. Like, it's a big deal, and I just hope people resonate with it and take something away."

Page added that the significance lay in the fact that it was important to put "aspirational imagery out there" for viewers, showing that it should be possible for anyone to live the sort of life depicted in this type of film.

"You've got to show people that absolutely everyone has both the right and the possibility of going out and living life to its absolute fullest on the widest lens," he explained.

"You can go to the other side of the world and find found family and find love in the sun, on a vineyard. It doesn't matter who you are, you can go do that. So it's as simple as putting those pictures out there."

Interestingly, Page and Bailey had been the only two names even considered for the roles of Michael and Anna, with director Kat Coiro describing the casting process as "horrifying" given their lack of back-ups.

"In a lot of movies, you'll have a list," she told Radio Times. "We didn't have a list. It was Halle and it was Regé. Period, End of story."

Producer Will Packer – whose previous credits include Ride Along and Girls Trip – added that it became very apparent early on that the pair were very well matched when it came to being on-screen partners.

"They're both obviously incredibly good looking people, that helps," he said. "They're both very serious actors who take their craft seriously. And so the first table read, you could tell that they were finding the rhythm, because it's all about a rhythm when you talk about two leads and chemistry."

He added: "To me, the best version of a rom com is when you have two leads that complement each other, that both have elements that the other one doesn't have. And that's the case here."

"They're opposites, and their characters are opposites," Coiro agreed. "You know, Anna is this fly by the seat of her pants, chaos demon. And then Michael is very grounded and kind of staid and almost stiff in his workaholism and his dedication to family. And they kind of upend each other's lives in the best way."

For Page's part, one of the key draws of the project was the chance to star in a film which would allow the world "to see life through Halle Bailey's eyes" while building on beloved romcom tropes.

"Halle is so charming, so full of light, so full of joy," he said. "She's so easy to root for that I think that is so rare and so valuable. I wanted audiences to take that journey with [her], because it's a universal story.

"Roman Holiday is the classic that we referenced a lot, where a woman takes the revolutionary decision to take some time for herself because she's stuck in a rut in her life. She goes out and she discovers a fantasy world where she can meet the love of her life and live life on her own terms.

"That's the undertone of every good romcom to me. And so doing that with Halle in Tuscany, in the sun, in the vineyards, rolling through the hills in a convertible... please!"

You, Me and Tuscany is released in UK cinemas on Friday 10 April.

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