I recently had the pleasure of attending an intimate press conference for the new coming-of-age movie LOVE, SIMON, here in Los Angeles.

Read below some of the highlights of what the film’s talents had to share, including Director Greg Berlanti and stars Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Keiynan Lonsdale, and Natasha Rothwell.

Nick Robinson (Simon) on a very emotional scene

“I don’t know that I ever set out to make a grip cry, but I will say the one scene I felt like we were in the right ballpark was the scene between Simon and his mom. That was a very emotional day for everybody. People weren’t expecting the emotion that happened. Our producers were crying. The grips were crying. I think that speaks to the fact that whether you’re gay or straight, hearing that speech of ‘You are worthy and you deserve love and you can exhale,’ are so powerful.”

Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (Nick) on a friend coming out to him, before he decided to join the movie

“She was not happy, but only because [the film] was going to come out on her birthday. She was like, ‘Why are you doing my thing on my birthday?!’ […] The thing is I’m doing it for her. So when she sees it, I’ll really know. I’ll have a real person who I can check in with to gage.”

Keiynan Lonsdale (Bram) on social media’s power for good

“More and more, we’re able to be inspired by people not just showing their highlights, but expressing when they have anxiety, or their truths. That’s an exciting thing where social media can go […] What you get to see in LOVE, SIMON is that there are positive aspects to it, where you can find that community and then there’s ways to be cyber-bullied and shamed, like what happened to Martin’s character. That’s super detrimental. It’s pertinent that we celebrate the people who share themselves, but take it upon ourselves to not shame people through social media.”

Natasha Rothwell on playing ‘Ms. Albright’

“I had two awesome drama teachers in high school: Miss O’Neil and Mr. Walsh. In real life, I taught theater in the Bronx for four years. It was a Venn diagram of Ms. Albright and the life I lived. I pulled from all those experiences to find her. To Greg’s credit, he allowed me to play on set and find her voice and how she moved […] I’ve pulled many a student off many places. All out of love. The thing I loved about this character is that the theater in high school, for me, and even as a teacher, is a home for people who felt like they were on the outside. It was a safe space. As a teacher, it was up to me to fiercely protect it as a safe space. It was not just being an ally in theory, but what does being an active ally look like.”

Greg Berlanti on the reactions the film is generating

“All people, from all walks of life (in red states and blue states), to see their reactions, particularly to the ending, has been personally rewarding to me. To see audiences of all kinds applauding a gay kiss is really powerful – and something I never thought I’d see in a film like this […] I started crying watching certain scenes that weren’t even the biggest emotional scenes – stuff like regular family scenes. It was the simple power of representation. It was a real visceral void that I didn’t even know needed to be filled that was getting filled.”

LOVE, SIMON is now playing in theaters nationwide.

Everyone deserves a great love story. But for Simon it’s complicated: no-one knows he’s gay and he doesn’t know who the anonymous classmate is that he’s fallen for online. Resolving both issues proves hilarious, scary and life-changing.