Interview: Lucy Boynton, Justin H. Min and Austin Crute on ‘The Greatest Hits’
What would you do if you had the ability to time travel? If you could go back in time to relive moments with a deceased loved one, would you? Would you stay with them, forever living in the past, or decide to move on, no matter how painful the process would be? That’s the question that Harriet Gibbons, played by Lucy Boynton, is faced with in Ned Benson‘s The Greatest Hits when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time – literally. While she relives the past through romantic memories of her former boyfriend, Max (David Corenswet), her time traveling collides with a burgeoning new love interest in the present, David (Justin H. Min). As she takes her journey through the hypnotic connection between music and memory, she wonders – even if she could change the past, should she?
The Greatest Hits expertly and carefully explores the impact music can have on us – both the positive and negative. Music has the ability to anchor us in certain moments, forever cementing certain memories and emotions in the fabric of our lives. Whether it’s the euphoria of an uptempo pop anthem or the melancholy of a soulful ballad, music can shape our experiences and even who we are. But music can also, in a way, be destructive; as Lucy finds herself listening to songs that remind her of past moments with Max, reminiscing on the experiences they shared, the plans they made for the future and the love they once had, she finds herself in danger of wallowing in her sadness, quite literally living in the past rather than moving on.
“My relationship with music is cathartic and destructive,” says Boynton when asked about her own connection to music. “So the same as Harriet but to a slightly less tangible degree.” However, Boynton also says that she’s found herself thinking more and more about the nature of that relationship and how it can sometimes be harmful in the long run. “In doing this film, I realized how much I get caught in the past, and how much I allow it to cloud my present so I’ve tried to be more mindful. There are so many songs, obviously, that bring me right back to a time, place or person. I’m trying to learn how to enjoy the music without letting it cloud your heart. It’s like, ‘Yeah, just move on.'” Min, on the other hand, says he has a healthier relationship with music, one that he sees as a source of inspiration rather than a means of wallowing in the past. “I listen to music whenever I can” he says. “I love having a soundtrack to my life. I think it just makes everything more beautiful. You can savor things when there’s a soundtrack and there’s music involved. I love how music can do that.”
Austin Crute, who plays Harriet’s best friend, Morris, says his relationship with music, on the other hand, is more similar to Harriet’s. “Music takes me back,” he says. “I will think of a song and I’ll think of the people that I heard it with. I’ll think of the state of mind I was in. ‘Better Off’ by Ariana Grande off of the Sweetener album, for example, it takes me back to this time when I was messing around with this dude and it’s like, ‘Dang, I’m better off now.'” However, Crute says he’s learned to process that connection to music through a healthier lens now, acknowledging the power of music to evoke memories and emotions without letting them overwhelm him. “Now I can listen to that song and I’m not taken back to the pain that I was feeling,”he says. “When I listen to that song now, it’s just a good song. Maybe I do think of the moments that were painful that led me to that song, but it’s not connected to me in the same way. It’s more of like connection to my mind and to my heart. I think that is something that The Greatest Hits communicates; that you can have a relationship with music that takes you back to a place where you might want to move on, but you can also develop a new relationship with even the same songs that pushes you forward. So I just hope that people get that message from the movie as well.”
Morris is also a DJ, and the film includes sequences of him DJing and mixing music with infectious energy. Crute says his background as a musician and a performer helped him bring some authenticity to the role, allowing him to infuse Morris with a genuine love and understanding of music. “I’m a performer,” he says. “I’m a crowdpleaser. So I know what it’s like to get up on stage and have that relationship with the crowd. I remember that day [when we filmed the DJing scene] was so crazy and so high energy. I feel like I definitely did my part, even behind the scenes, of keeping that energy up on the stage. That being said, I did also learn there’s an audio analog person that sets up all of the analog equipment. His name is Daniel and he’s just incredible. He walked me through all of the equipment and while I’m no professional, I feel like I learned enough to be able to accurately depict the character that I needed to depict and to have that energy.”
In addition to the film’s electrifying portrayal of music and the impact it can have on people, it also features not one but two romantic relationships for the ages. As Harriet relives some of her most cherished moments with Max, she also finds herself embarking on a new relationship with David, a young man who is also mourning the loss of a loved one as well. Boynton has on-screen chemistry with both Corenswet and Min in spades, but it is her dynamic with Min that practically lights up the screen whenever they share the same scene. As they navigate feelings of grief and love together, their interactions are filled with a palpable sense of tenderness and vulnerability that practically bleeds through the screen. Whether they’re sharing quiet moments of solace or engaging in playful banter together, Boynton and Min effortlessly manage to convey the depth and nature of their characters’ connection, making their relationship one of the film’s most captivating aspects.
Surprisingly, The Greatest Hits marks the first time Min plays the main love interest in a film, and he delivers a performance that is as complex as it is magnetic. His portrayal of David is at once both nuanced and heartfelt, capturing the character’s inner turmoil with searing authenticity. Anyone who has seen After Yang or The Umbrella Academy can testify to Min’s skills as an actor but in The Greatest Hits, he’s finally allowed to be the charming romantic lead and he does it with gusto, bringing emotional depth and charisma in spades to his scenes with Boynton that elevate the film beyond any genre conventions.
Would he be interested in starring in another romance in the future? “If it’s with Lucy, then of course,” he jokes. “No, but it was amazing to play a human being, first of all. But yeah, I love these kinds of movies. I grew up watching them. I still watch them. They’re like the perfect form of escape. We all love to feel butterflies when we’re watching the screen and so to be a part of that genre, I was very, very grateful for, and to be a part of it with Lucy and our amazing cast, and to be a part of this story written by our incredible director, Ned, was just a dream come true.”
The Greatest Hits is now streaming on Hulu.