“I’ve always loved the classic, sensual thrillers like “Basic Instinct” and “Body Heat.” What attracted me to Careful What You Wish For was that, like those timeless films, the script explores temptation and heightened sexual attraction with a strong femme fatale at the center, toying deliciously with our expectations. But, this particular “noir” film felt unique to me in that it features an adolescent male lead, and is geared towards a younger audience – making the story more timely and truly apropos to our times,” explains Rosenbaum on helming the Nick Jonas starrer.
Having directed the films “Aquamarine” and “Ramona and Beezus,” as well as a myriad of teen television shows like “90210,” “Gossip Girl” and “Vampire Diaries,” the director reveals that she is only too conscious of how (fed by digital technology and the Internet) millennials desire immediate gratification -- jumping into adulthood quickly without always considering the consequences of their actions. “For me, our movie is a morality tale exploring that very subject matter and depicting the true consequences of attention-grabbing, momentarily thrilling but illicit, behavior. The film is a provocative, cautionary story for the upcoming generational archetype – a peer group that is suddenly faced with a far bigger stage, more attainable temptation, and higher stakes than any generation that has come before,” Rosenbaum further says.
In the movie, we see Nick Jonas in the role of young Doug Martin who falls in love with his married, older neighbor, Lena played by the sultry and ethereal Isabel Lucas. “Nick Jonas is in almost every scene in of the film, and it was a true pleasure to collaborate with him as he admirably threw himself into the task of exploring this young, impressionable character. Nick does a beautiful job of depicting Doug’s arc; I wanted to cast Nick Jonas because of his raw talent and also because he himself was going through a transformative time in his career that mirrors the story line of Doug Martin. There are many parallels between Doug’s story and Nick’s transition into film acting – and I believe that this fact profoundly impacts the deep, rich performance Nick Jonas delivers on screen.”
Moreso on filming “Careful What You wish For,” Rosenbaum shares the following amazing facts during the movie’s production:
• The movie was shot in Lake Norman, but “Lake Lure” is nearby. The Lake Lure tourism committee was so welcoming that we wanted to honor them (and of course, we liked the symbolism of the name) so we gave our fictional lake the name “Lake Lure.” It turns out that another movie was filmed there 30 years ago -- it was in those very waters of Lake Lure that Patrick Swayze lifted “Baby” in Dirty Dancing.
• Nick was supposed to be driving a motorcycle throughout the film, but on the day that we were going to establish it, the motorcycle wouldn’t start. We had no time to regroup, so we just grabbed the location manager’s bike. Nick now rides that bike for the whole film. Interestingly, the bike now has its own twitter account with a respectable number of followers! @NicksBikeCWYWF
• Because of challenging scheduling, the first day of production (when the actor’s barely knew each other) we had to shoot the big convenience-mart sex scene. It was awkward and funny for all of us!
• The out of town cast and crew all lived in little condo rentals over a shopping mall called “the Birkdale Village.” The town had Nick Jonas sightings every day and hundreds of young girls would hang out at the mall every day to get a glimpse of Nick.
“Careful What You Wish For” opens May 6 in theaters from Axinite Digicinema.
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