Interview: Madelyn Cline, KJ Apa, Sofia Wylie and Madison Thompson on ‘The Map That Leads to You’
Adapted from J.P. Monninger’s bestselling novel and directed by Lasse Hallström (The Cider House Rules, Chocolat), Prime Video’s newest romance release, The Map That Leads to You, follows Heather (Madelyn Cline), freshly graduated from college, as she embarks on a trip around Europe with her two best friends Amy (Madison Thompson) and Connie (Sofia Wylie). It’s only after meeting Jack (KJ Apa) that her spontaneous summer abroad will start to turn into a journey of self-discovery and love, while grappling with life’s biggest questions.
The movie serves as an efficient adaptation. While it visually shines through the multitude of beautiful European backdrops it presents, it is truly at its best when it lets its 2 charming leads build its emotional backbone. Both Cline and Apa bring a warmth and a charm to their roles here, delivering touching performances as a newly formed couple whose expectations of one another struggle to be met.
Madelyn Cline, who rose to fame in Netflix’s breakout hit Outer Banks and went on to star in Rian Johnson’s star-studded Knives Out: Glass Onion, anchors the film with an authenticity that feels grounded. Reflecting on a memorable moment from the script when her character is asked what she would want to ask the universe, Cline admits she would love to sit down with her late grandparents. “I’d love to ask them everything they know,” she says. “About the other side, what they think.”
If Cline brings heart to the film, KJ Apa is surprisingly its soul. Best known as Archie Andrews in Riverdale, Apa offers a strikingly different turn here. He tells us how, for the first time, he got to perform using his natural accent. “I felt a little more exposed,” he explains. “But it forced me into more of just existing… not having to think about anything other than what I was doing in the moment. I think it complimented who Jack is.” The result is a performance unlike anything general audiences have seen from him before, subtle and deeply human. Jack has dreams, urgent ones. Dreams that he cannot afford to give up on. Dreams that he desperately wants Heather to fit in. Though it may at times appear like an impossible thing, both thoroughly refuse to give up on each other and what their future together could be. The result is an on-screen chemistry between Apa and Cline that fuels the film, even in its slower moments.
Apa is now preparing himself for another much anticipated role, as James Stewart for the upcoming biopic about the It’s a Wonderful Life icon. “It’s a different preparation,” he teases. “I think we can all speak to the fact that any role kind of requires a different process. In a short amount of time, I have to be specific. But I’m really grateful for the opportunity. It’s an honor to play him.”
Cline jokes about how the pair had a complicated “brief first encounter years ago”, but before filming began, they met for dinner and “unpacked everything,” as she puts it. From then on, the chemistry was a go. Apa adds that once the cast arrived on set, they quickly embraced the relationships their characters shared.
The supporting cast further enriches the story, including Madison Thompson and Sofia Wylie. Thompson spoke warmly of her father’s influence on her approach to her career, similar to the one Heather’s dad has on her in the film: “He always talks about how you’re never going to be successful if you quit. Because if you quit, it’s guaranteed that you won’t follow your dreams. So you have to keep going.” It’s advice that resonates not only for her own career but also for the film’s themes of perseverance and resilience. Wylie adds her own spark to the ensemble, grounding the group’s dynamics with heart.
The cast also mentions several times how Hallström managed to capture the fleeting yet transformative nature of post-college travel. That includes the friendships, the freedom and the magic of a European summer experienced as both the end of a life chapter and the beginning of a new one. “It felt like the summer after college,” Cline says. “Free-spirited, wonderful, carefree type energy.” Apa adds how “Lasse did a really good job of kind of capturing all those moments and they felt like they were all real.” He also highlights that if the relationships on screen felt so “real,” it is thanks to the director’s touch.
THE MAP THAT LEADS TO YOU is now streaming on Prime Video.
