Minor spoilers for Eternity lie ahead. If you haven’t seen the rom-com on the 2025 movie schedule, you can catch it in theaters right now.
In the new A24 movie, Eternity, we follow Elizabeth Olsen’s Joan into the afterlife as she’s reunited with her husband of decades, Miles Teller’s Larry, and her first husband who died during the war, Callum Turner’s Luke. However, they aren’t the only vital characters in this story, as Da’Vine Joy Randolph and John Early play Anna and Ryan, respectively. These two are tasked with helping the trio pick the places they want to spend eternity. And it turns out, those coordinator roles originally weren’t as big as they are now, and the film’s director told us why he expanded them.
During a conversation with David Freyne, who co-wrote and directed Eternity, CinemaBlend’s Hannah Saulic asked about Da'Vine Joy Randolph and John Early’s work. She wondered if they were allowed to riff or if it was in the script, and Freyne revealed that it was on the page. However, it wasn’t always there, and he explained why by saying:
So it was on the page, and they were always quite big characters on the page, but they were so much better than I ever imagined. And I think what ends up happening is they're so great [that] you just go home at night after a shoot, and you write extra scenes for them. And I would come in the next day with new lines for them. They're like, ‘Oh my God, David, more dialogue?’
Listen, if you’ve seen John Early and Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s best work, you know how funny they are. So, it’s no surprise that the writer/director wanted more and more of them in his rom-com.
Continuing to speak about the pair of afterlife coordinators, Freyne explained that as he saw the two actors’ dynamic on screen, he just kept wanting to give them more and more to do. So, that’s what he did. In fact, he gave them a whole scene to themselves, as he explained:
But they're just so endlessly inspiring because they're dynamic was so brilliant. And like, I ended up – there's a beautiful scene in the film where it's just the two of them discussing their roles and walking into this junction as it wakes up. I wrote that a couple of days beforehand just because I just want more of them. I want a scene where it's just them.
Freyne said that these new scenes and storylines were his way of “responding to how great they are.” He wanted to give them “the best material” possible, and with that came bigger roles in the movie. They did so much, in fact, that there’s a lot from Randolph and Early that we “haven’t seen.” However, we’re hopeful those takes will end up in a blooper reel.
Anyway, going back to what you see on screen. The director told us more about what was added as they were making the movie. Surprisingly, this list included Anna and Ryan’s will-they/won’t-they relationship, as Freyne told Saulic:
Over the course of the writing it, those roles, Anna and Ryan, they, they got bigger and bigger and bigger. And originally, they didn't have their own will-they/won't-they. And I just thought that would be so much fun. And so they just kept growing.
I love that for these characters so much. I absolutely adore Eternity, and think it has the potential to be one of the great rom-coms. One of the reasons it works is because Anna and Ryan are constantly helping both Joan and Larry and the audience understand this unique afterlife world.
To that point, David Freyne told us that Early and Randolph’s characters are like a “Greek chorus” in that way, and between that and their chemistry with the leading trio, they were an irresistible and vital addition to the movie:
And they do kind of act like the Greek chorus in this. They kind of – they are the people to explain the rules, so to speak, and guide these characters through this weird, crazy world. So they just grew. And I think what was amazing is Da’Vine and John's chemistry with Lizzy, Miles and Callum is extraordinary. And so you want to have them together as much as possible.
In the end, David Freyne explained to CinemaBlend that having John Early and Da’Vine Joy Randolph in scenes with Callum Turner, Elizabeth Olsen and Miles Teller were the biggest highlights of the film for him. That’s because when they were all together, they were “like kids” and always “playing.”
That joyful energy 100% transferred to the screen, and he’s right, Anna and Ryan do make the story so much funnier and better. So, I’m thrilled their roles grew as much as they did!
Now, to go see these two usher three romantics through the afterlife, you can catch Eternity in theaters now.
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