Sidelined: The QB & Me has returned for a sequel on Tubi that explores the million-dollar question: Can first loves withstand the test of time?
For director Justin Wu, Sidelined 2: Intercepted is all about taking a new twist on the classic rom-com, adding depth to supporting characters who seemingly find themselves in a love triangle in Drayton’s (Noah Beck) and Dallas’ (Siena Agudong) world. He reveals how each of the films poses a very real question.
“I see less plot and more questions, right? Because every film should have a central theme,” Wu told Blavity’s Shadow and Act. “In the first film about high school, it’s ‘Where do I want to go?’ That’s question No. 1. ‘Where do I want to go?’ The second movie is really about ‘Who do I want to be?’ And then the third movie I would love to explore, if given the opportunity, is, ‘What do I become?’ And these are very different questions, because, more concretely, let’s just say, you know, one thought I had in mind was, ‘What if we did a time jump?’ What if, five years from now, Drayton is firmly in the NFL? He’s already won a couple of Super Bowls. He has some major commercials, and then Dallas, maybe she succeeded. Maybe she’s a movie star, right?”
He added, “The real question then is, well, once you’ve achieved your dreams, what’s next? Maybe that could be found with the two of them as friends. Maybe they can find each other again. Who knows? But the question really is about what are the new questions that they can both face separately and together, and I think, that’s to me, where I would love to investigate moving forward.”
Meet the new characters
Roan Curtis joins the second film as Charlotte, a potential love interest of Drayton, and Charlie Gillespie is Skyler, the free-flowing musician trying to occupy space in Dallas’s world.
“I think that she’s very confronting; she doesn’t mince words, but she also speaks his language,” Curtis said of her character. “She’s a woman in sports. She is dealing with men and their egos, and like all of the stuff. She also, canonically, has four brothers, so she’s the only girl amongst a bunch of men, so I think that she’s not afraid to level with the men in her life, and that includes Drayton, which I think is really important, and I think he also probably finds refreshing when a lot of his world is people fawning over him. It’s like the person who will look you in the eye and be like, ‘You’re not all you think you are, especially when you’re acting like this or you’re doing this.’ And so I think, yeah, it’s really fun to come in and also play a contrast. I watched the first movie, and so I think I informed a lot of my choices in building the character on, kind of playing off of who Dallas is. So if Dallas would be soft, in this instance, I would go hard. Or if Dallas would say, ‘Yes,’ I’d say, ‘No,’ you know, like that was kind of where my head was at.”
Gillepsie, who portrays Skyler, said Dallas dives deeper into herself in this story, “And I think my character just really gets to, you know, ask certain questions that help her reflect into where she’s trying to go in life, you know, which is a lot of, would you say, similarly? Like Skyler just kind of has — like, he’s pursuing his passion,” adding, “It’s pretty much just having to be somebody to help have the conversations that help her character move forward. We have two of those kinds of characters. You have a character as well throughout the story that helps you ask inward questions to help your character develop forward, and, yes, there’s like a chemistry between the two. Skyler is so passionate about your character, and he would love something more. And do they? Will they? We don’t know.”
Sustaining a romance beyond high school
With Dallas and Drayton still going strong as they explore their college years, Sidelined 2 peels back the layers on the difference in relationships between one’s circle in high school and who they connect with post-secondary education.
“When you’re in high school, you don’t really get to choose who’s in your 30-person class. Whereas in college, you choose your major, you choose the electives you take, and you’re a lot more selective with who you want around you,” Beck said.
“I think there’s something to that, with like, where do you want to go? I think that question alone kind of opens these doors for him, and he’s got to really figure that out, because obviously he wants to go pro, he wants to go to the NFL, and that’s his dream,” he continued. “But then, when all of that is taken away, or it seems like it is due to an injury, it’s like, well, how do we pivot, and where do you want to go? Do you want to let this be a major setback, or do you want this to just be a little hiccup, and are we gonna really focus on this, but then, how do you balance that with, ‘Oh, I also have my hometown girlfriend. So I think, at least in this film, it seems like it’s never-ending, that never-ending question of where does he want to go, and I don’t really think we get a solidified answer by the end, unfortunately, but it leaves room for more.”
In an ideal world, Dallas continues to pursue her dreams, whether or not she ends up in a relationship, Agudong shared.
“I would hope for her that she keeps going with the flow of things and stops fighting herself on all the opportunities that keep coming up,” she explained. “I hope that she’s able to lean into it not feeling so heartbroken, because in a way, it was an act of love at the end; it wasn’t a heartbreak. It feels heartbreaking, but it wasn’t, and I hope for her that she’s able to continue finding herself without any sort of resentment, like there’s just a sense of peace and like closing a chapter, even if it is still on the table.”
Sidelined 2: Intercepted is now streaming on Tubi. Watch the full interview above.