Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum wasn’t a name that I knew, but when I was asked if I wanted to interview her for Purple Hearts, I said yes. Of course I said yes. The director made one of my favorite films of 2022 so far. I wanted to talk to her about the way that she brought the story to life, the way she chose its stars, the things that this story meant.
But upon doing my research, I realized that Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum has directed a lot of television that has shaped my love of fandom. She’s directed episodes of The Vampire Diaries, Famous in Love, Gossip Girl, Spinning Out – and that’s just a few of the television shows that she’s lent her talent to.
She recently directed the Sneakerella, which I also loved. But it was with Purple Hearts, starring Sofia Carson and Nicholas Galzentine that I learned her name.
I hate doing interviews, but for some reason, I didn’t mind doing this one. Despite the internet issues, the hot AF day happening in New York City, and the way that I feel self conscious on camera, I wanted to do this interview.
I wanted to pick the mind of someone who I had quickly grown to admire.
Press days are always chaotic, so I am never shocked when someones running late. Both Elizabeth and I were hardwired to the internet but it wasn’t cooperating. But when she joined, she was ever so sweet and kind, and I had to thank her for bringing to life a story that needed to be told.
In Purple Hearts, Cassie has found out that she’s diabetic and can’t afford her medication. After a night at work, where she runs into a friend from childhood, she is put off by Luke, a marine, and well to be frank has quite the attitude. But when they both need each other – Cassie needs insurance and he needs the extra money that being married would bring him.
When Rosenbaum was asked about the importance of telling the story, she let us know that she had inherited the script and remarked, “I really wanted to find something that were exploring topics that I thought were important to deal with.”
She continued by saying, “For me this just felt like the perfect balance. It’s still wrapped up in a beautiful romantic bow, it’s palpable but you can get people to watch it. It’s not too didactic. It deals with a lot of subjects that are really near and dear to me.”
For me, I had to thank her, because one of the most important things that the movie did for me, was brought the fact that people will do whatever they have to do to survive. The pharmaceutical companies are making a killing, while people like me are struggling to pay for the medication that keeps them alive.
She made something that is so hard – making choices in life – feel as though it was this magical thing. Not saying that you’re going to make all the right choices, but
But part of the magic of Purple Hearts, is the music. For me, some of the most important moments in the movie relate to the music. Sofia Carson has a beautiful voice and the songs that she wrote and sings, are pivotal to her character and they are pivotal to the story.
It’s the moments that you start to see the characters fall for each other. I failed in my research knowing that this was based off a book, but Rosenbaum was gracious when she answered if music was always meant to be such a big part of the story, in order to heighten the angst in the story.
“In the script that I inherited, she was already an aspiring singer and certainly it fit Sofia. Sofia and I were looking to do something together. It fit her like a glove because it’s a first generation Colombian woman whose an aspiring singer.” she remarked, “It was like OMG we couldn’t find more of a you script. We knew it was right for her. I’ve done a lot of projects with music but this is the first one where I felt like it really tracked the character in an interesting way.”
Part of the genius of the music is that Sofia Carson wrote the music along with Justin Tranter. You could tell as she sang, she felt every word. Though, I will say that some of the times that I felt that Cassie and Luke connected the most, was when there was just score.
Music was used in such a beautiful way in the film. But also the way that the movie was shot heightened those moments. You didn’t need to see the characters having sex, because every intimate moment was shot so artistically that it was captivating and you felt as if these two were really in love with each other, even though they were as different as night and day.
“The characters are from opposite sides of the aisle. She [Cassie] hasn’t really had an understanding of the sacrifices that military have to make and he has never really had an understanding of the arts. So here he is living with her and having a front row seat to how hard it is to open up a vein to create something, like a song. And she’s witnessing what his side of aisle is going through at Camp Pendleton and the deep deep bravery and sacrifices.” Rosenbaum said when she started talking about the songs that Carson and Tranter wrote.
She continued, “The first song that she finally strikes with is because they are both influenced by each other and becoming a little more moderate and there’s no surprise that would be the one that would strike a cord with middle America and why she suddenly has more of a foothold with her career, because she’s opening up her mind.”
“I thought that was really interesting and a great way to exteriorize learning about each other. Listening and compromising.”
We thought it was beautiful.
Stay tuned for part two of our interview with Rosenbaum on Friday, where we talking military, self sacrifice, and seeing past our difference.
Purple Hearts is streaming now on Netflix.