Why Angourie Rice Fell for the Messy Heart of Finding Emily

Sydney hotels have seen their share of rising stars. On this particular afternoon, Angourie Rice looks entirely at home curled up in a lounge chair at the Ace Hotel, flicking through playlists on her phone and talking about novels, Manchester bands and why actors are drawn to flawed romantic heroines.

You’ll know Rice from her breakout role opposite Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in The Nice Guys, or from Bruce Beresford’s elegant adaptation of Ladies in Black. Then there’s Betty Brant in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man films, Cady Heron in the 2024 version of Mean Girls and Siobhan Sheehan in Mare of Easttown.

Today she’s promoting Finding Emily, the new romantic comedy directed by Alicia MacDonald and written by Rachel Hirons.

If you want the elevator pitch: a lovestruck university student named Owen (Spike Fearn) is given the wrong phone number after a fleeting encounter with the girl of his dreams. Determined to find her, he teams up with another Emily — a sharp-witted psychology student played by Rice — and together they set off on a chaotic search across Manchester that gradually becomes something far more complicated and romantic than either expected.

Rice and Fearn are a casting director’s dream. Spike comes off like a long-lost loveable Gallagher brother, while Rice sits squarely in the lineage of smart, emotionally complex heroines who don’t always make the right choice — but you want to cheer them on anyway.

The film is funny, slightly chaotic, deeply romantic and infused with music in a way that recalls both the golden age of British rom-coms and Britpop without feeling overly nostalgic for either.

This writer was sold the moment the Working Title logo appeared on screen. Rice admits she felt the same.

“I love Working Title as a production company,” she begins. “I’ve always admired the films they made, especially the rom-coms.”

She knew the minute she read Rachel Hirons’ screenplay that she was in.

“I sat down meaning to read the first 30 pages because I had other things to do that day,” she laughs. “Then I just kept going and read the whole thing. I was hooked.”

Rice’s character is an American student who relocates to Manchester chasing reinvention, scholastic prestige and romance. That journey of self-discovery becomes a little messy. Rice plays Emily with nervous energy and emotional transparency; one minute wildly impulsive, the next heartbreakingly vulnerable.

“With Emily,” explains Rice, “she does something, it goes badly, and she’s like, ‘Oh God, I didn’t mean for that to happen.’ That became the whole inspiration for the character.”

What makes the performance work is that Rice clearly understands the architecture of a great romantic comedy. During our conversation, she rattles off references with enthusiasm: My Best Friend’s Wedding, Notting Hill and Sleepless in Seattle.

Although earlier versions of the screenplay placed the story in America, Rice believes relocating the film to Manchester transformed it completely.

“I’d never been to Manchester before,” she says. “Then I got there and completely fell in love with the city. It’s like New York in When Harry Met Sally…. The city becomes part of the romance. We’ve seen so many films where New York becomes the character,” Rice says. “This gets to make Manchester the co-star.”

Given Manchester’s cultural pedigree, music became central to Rice’s preparation process.

“For this character, I built a playlist,” she says, reaching for her phone. “It really told Emily’s story.”

Chappell Roan, Pulp, New Order, The Smiths, Wet Leg and The Stone Roses all feature prominently.

“It starts with ‘Pink Pony Club’ because it’s about someone leaving their hometown to chase a dream in a sparkling city,” she explains. “That’s Emily.”

Her favourite inclusions include “Blue Monday”, “Common People” and “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”.

She laughs when I question the late arrival of Oasis on the playlist.

“No judgement!” she fires back, scrolling quickly through her phone to prove the Gallagher brothers did eventually make the cut.

Rice also built Emily visually through mood boards filled with old Hollywood icons and cult film references.

“There’s a lot of Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Blondie,” she says. “But Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin became a really big reference point.”

Rice became fascinated by Hawn’s chaotic hairstyle in the film.

“She’s got this expression like, ‘What? Something happened and maybe it’s my fault, but I didn’t mean for it to happen,’” Rice says. “That felt exactly like Emily.”

The looseness occasionally carried through to filming itself. Alicia MacDonald encouraged improvisation between Rice and Fearn, allowing scenes to drift naturally beyond the script.

“Spike’s really good at improv,” Rice says. “I’m more of a reactor than an instigator, but working opposite him creates magic.”

That chemistry becomes increasingly important as the film gradually pivots from playful rom-com into something emotionally riskier. One devastating confrontation involving Emily’s apartment wall becomes a major turning point.

“That was a tough scene to film,” Rice admits. “Because the whole question becomes: how do you come back from this?”

For Rice, the answer lies in vulnerability.

“What I love about the film is that honesty and sincerity win out in the end.”

That emotional openness seems to define Rice’s broader approach to acting. Despite a résumé already spanning Hollywood blockbusters, Australian dramas and prestige television, she still talks about performance with the curiosity of someone discovering new things about herself through every role.

“Sometimes I think I’m nothing like a character and then realise I actually am,” she says. “Or the opposite happens. That’s the fun of acting.”

Away from acting, Rice has also expanded into writing alongside her mother, playwright Kate Rice. Their latest novel, My Wonderful Disgrace, unfolds across one chaotic school formal and is told through diary entries, text messages, emails and police transcripts.

“It was really fun because we divided the characters between us,” Rice says. “But there’s always crossover editing. We still wanted it to feel like both of us.”

Her younger sister apparently remains the family’s harshest critic.

“She can always tell who wrote what,” Rice laughs.