While Voicemails For Isabelle costars Nick Robinson and Zoey Deutch have had markedly different careers in the industry — with Robinson leading projects such as Love, Simon, Everything, Everything, and Jurassic World, and Deutch helming movies like Flower, Not Okay, and Set It Up — it turns out that they’ve met before. No, not on a film set. In fact, the two actually met way back in high school.
Released on June 19, the Netflix original movie Voicemails for Isabelle follows Jill (Deutch) as she grieves the loss of her sister Isabelle (Ciara Bravo). As she processes her grief, Jill leaves a series of voicemails for her sister, not knowing that the number has now become the work number for real estate agent Wes (Robinson). When fate — and Wes’ machinations — allow them to meet in person, the two begin a journey of grief and healing.
While most successful actors meet on set or at events, Robinson and Deutch actually attended high school at the same time in Los Angeles. Robinson was a student at Campbell Hall School, and Deutch was a student at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Because of their similar interests, age, and proximity, the two met and became friends.
During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the Voicemails for Isabelle costars — working together in their first joint project — discussed their initial impressions of each other, prompting Deutch to reveal that she had had a crush on Robinson back in high school. “I had a crush on him, so I was mean to him, which was my like sort of go-to then,” Deutch said. She then followed up by saying, “I was like, ‘You’re cute, so let me be like poke at you.’”
And while Robinson may not have reciprocated the romantic feelings, he was still a fan of Deutch’s at the time, sharing, “I think I found you intimidating. I found you forward, really cool.”
The two were able to channel this connection — and their real-life friendship — to inform the chemistry of their characters in the movie. “Nick and I have known each other a while, since we were teens,” Deutch said in an interview with Refinery 29. “So we’ve had a friendship, a history, and a foundation of time between us that I think really lends itself towards having that chemistry.”
So, although the high school crush didn’t go anywhere, the pair’s friendship certainly helped the movie — and the press tour — shine.