Jordan Fisher and Talia Ryder Break Down That ‘Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between’ Ending
Jordan Fisher and Talia Ryder, the stars of Netflix’s “Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between,” agree on the very human themes present in their new rom-com.
Based on Jennifer E. Smith’s Young Adult novel of the same name, couple Claire (Ryder) and Aidan (Fisher) spend 1 hour and 24 minutes reliving the memories of their relationship before they have to decide whether to stay together or go their separate ways for college. Aidan’s parents want him to follow in their footsteps by becoming a doctor, but he would rather chase the dream of music than med school. Claire is determined to be an independent woman wherever she goes to college.
Fisher also served as producer in addition to starring in the adaptation.
“This is the first thing that I got to have my hands on, on a creative level. My retirement plan is like produce everything and be in like one great awesome movie every year,” he said. “I’ve just got so much to learn always. So, learning how to be a leader on set both as an actor, as well as a creative and as a producer — I couldn’t have asked for a better training ground and, and creative partners, from the cast to the producers and writers and director. I am so grateful.”
Claire and Aidan meet before their senior year of high school and are immediately drawn to each other, but Claire doesn’t want to get into a relationship because her parents, who were high school sweethearts, didn’t work out. Aidan proposes they take it day by day until college rolls around, and then if they still want to, they can break up.
“It doesn’t start as simple — it starts unsure, it ends unsure. And that’s how a lot of things go but these two people know that they love each other and share something really special,” Ryder said. And I think it’s really special to see them fumble through navigating it and ultimately, having something really beautiful.”
After their final date night, which is full of unexpected twists and turns — including breaking into their high school, a trip to the hospital for stitches, and a big reveal that he auditioned for Berklee College of Music but didn’t get in — Aidan ultimately concedes and tells Claire that she is right and that they should be their own people in this next chapter.
“I’m a huge ‘let me decide what happens’ fan because, again, that’s a real reflection of humanity,” he said. “So this had to end open. This had to end with ‘Okay, I guess we’ll see. Because that’s life.”
At the end of the film, after a montage of back and forth texting over their time apart, Claire asks to meet up when she comes home from Dartmouth and Aidan comes home from California where he is shown performing here and there, with an original song Fisher wrote. The screen cuts to black after they say hello. When asked what the audience can take away from the film, Fisher hopes the open-ended story will provide fresh insight for any viewer on some connection to their own life.
“It’s a hard question to answer for this project because it is one of the most human films you’ll ever see,” he said, then offering how he hopes viewers walk away thinking something along the lines of “There’s something for me to attach myself to. I’ll be able to lean into whatever their journeys and adventures are, whatever the conversations are, their arguments, their love, their highs and lows, et cetera. I can latch on to that. And hopefully throughout watching them go through transitional hard waters. To navigate. I can gain a new perspective based on something that’s going on in my life.”
