Patrick J. Adams Talks Young Werther’s Modern Spin on Tragic Romance Novel

ComingSoon spoke with Young Werther star Patrick J. Adams about the new romance movie by José Lourenço. Adams, who co-stars with Douglas Booth and Alison Pill, discussed the film’s relevancy, working with Pull, if he’d return to Suits LA, and more. It is out now in select theaters and on digital platforms from Lionsgate.

“Patrick J. Adams, Douglas Booth, and Alison Pill star in this romantic comedy based on the classic smash hit novel of tragic romance. While on a simple errand to Toronto, a carefree and charming young writer named Werther stumbles across the love of his life only to discover that the young woman is engaged. Despite the urgings of his hypochondriac best friend, Werther turns his world upside down in a desperate, misguided, and hilarious quest to win her heart,” says the synopsis.

Tyler Treese: Patrick, congrats on Young Werther. I had such a fun time watching this. This starts very meta. It references the book throughout in some fun ways. I was curious what your history was with The Sorrows of Young Werther, which is this classic book. I’ve never read it, and I’ve just gone down this rabbit hole since then. But did you ever read it or watch one of the adaptations?

Patrick J. Adams: I read [The Sorrows of Young Werther] once a year. I have it by the bed at all times. No, I had never heard of this book until I received this script and started reading it. I thought, “What is this?” I did a little bit of research about the book and then talked to [director] José [Lourenço] and had him explain it to me more and why it was so relevant and such a sort of controversial book at the time. So, no, this was my first experience of this story.

It’s been fascinating to make a film based on something I’d never heard of, and now learn more about the source material. José has sort of got such a funny approach to the book. He’s found a book that most people don’t know, obviously remember it’s from 1774. So, to bring it into this new world was just sort of hilarious and wonderful, and I’ve loved learning more about it.

Yeah, it’s so interesting how this book from hundreds of years ago can be updated, and so much about the text still hits. It shows despite how much has changed, human emotion and relationships have largely stayed the same.

I think what he did that was really brilliant, though, is, obviously, in the original book, it was a bit more of a tragedy, I believe, where he actually successfully kills himself at the end. Obviously, a deeply controversial book at the time, end of the Enlightenment, a book that was about passion versus rationality, human emotion and love and unrequited love sort of overtaking this character to the point where he takes his own life. I guess that inspired a lot of young men taking their own lives. It was very, very, very controversial at the time.

I love that José has taken that and brought it into the new world. And yes, it has so much relevancy, but also by changing it and turning the dial a little bit and having the tragedy of it not have to be so tragic and making it sort of… to call it a romantic comedy is too much of a reduction, but to make it more charming and more relatable and not quite as dark by the end of it, I think was a stroke of genius.

And I think there’s enough time between the original novel and now that you don’t have Young Werther fans up in arms about changing the source material, you know?

Your character’s interesting because he’s so career-driven that it jeopardizes this relationship with his fiance, who obviously means so much to him. You famously left Suits to spend more time with your family. Did that make you empathize more with this character since you’ve been in that type of impasse where your career and personal life are clashing?

Yeah, I think I am. Where I deeply relate to Albert is the workaholic [attitude of] “Oh, this is how I am a responsible human in the world. I have to meet my responsibilities. I need to be working. I need to be engrossed in my work at all times. That’s my calling.” I saw that in Albert. I think what I was also taken with in his character is that that didn’t come, it came at the expense of his ability to spend time with Charlotte, but it didn’t come at the expense of his love for her. Like in other films, this person is the cold, distant, not loving, not joyful person who’s so engrossed in their work they can’t do anything else.

In this, I saw what José was doing with Albert, and I think this is also, again, I haven’t read the original book but from the research I’ve done though, in talking to José, it is a quality of Albert in the original book too, which is that while he is a rational, hardworking, respectable person in the world, he’s not cold and his back isn’t turned to his family. He doesn’t have the time to spend that Werther does, throwing himself wholeheartedly into this romantic relationship or what he’s trying to build towards a romantic relationship.

I relate to that. I work sometimes too hard. I obsess over work. I want to be in the thick of it, but I don’t think that totally comes at the cost of my being a good dad or a good partner. It’s a fine balance, and Albert, maybe through what happens in this film, sees that he’s pushed it a little too far, and he needs to recommit to his wife and to his family. I feel like I’ve spent my whole life in that same sort of dichotomy of trying to find that perfect balance that I think so many of us do.

Alison Pill is just fantastic in this film. She plays your fiance, and she’s just a force of nature. How was it showing that relationship, where there is that love at its core, even if she was feeling unfulfilled just because of the time spent at work? How was it finding that balance?

I mean, look, when you get to work with someone who’s as incredible as Alison, you almost just go into a responsive state. She’s so giving, she’s so present, she’s so prepared, she’s just ready to try new things. She’s thought deeply about the materials. So, it’s a gift. I’ve always wanted to work with Alison, and that was a huge part of the reason for wanting to do this. If anything, it just left me wanting more. It’s hard to be the fiance who’s a bit at a distance and not engaging enough. When I, Patrick, the actor, was like, “I just want to hang out with Alison Pill and do more scenes.” I had to really play the, “I’m sorry, I’ve gotta work…” because truthfully, getting to do scenes with Alison, I would do that forever. So, it was terrific and I hope we get to do more together.

You have The Madison coming up. How exciting is it getting to work with Taylor Sheridan? He’s his own empire now. He has like a dozen shows going.

It is pretty wild. There’s not much I can say about it, but I will say that it’s already been one of the biggest, craziest, most wonderful jobs I’ve ever had. And to witness, not just Taylor, but his whole sort of world and people who have worked with him, to watch that machine at work is truly impressive. So, yeah, I’m so excited to be able to talk more about that when it’s coming out into the world, but it’s been a phenomenal experience so far. Talk about an incredible cast. Every day, I go to work, just shocked that I’m in the kind of company that I get to keep.

You directed a short film a few years back called We Are Here. Do you have any further aspirations as a writer or director going forward?

God, yeah. Writing’s really tough for me. My wife is a prolific and talented writer, and she’s always encouraging me to write more. So I would like to be able to find the time to do that. Directing for sure. I love directing. I would love to find something to do, whether it’s a feature or more television, I don’t know. But yeah, deeply passionate about that. I love being behind the camera. I’m a photographer when I’m not acting. That’s like my second passion, and so getting to combine those two things is a dream for me.

Suits was already very successful, and then it just became the most popular show in the world. Suits LA is coming up. Would you be down for an appearance if it made sense?

Yeah, if it made sense. I still keep in touch with all those guys. Aaron [Korsh] is obviously running the show. We’re doing this podcast about suits now and he’s been really active and helpful there. So many other directors that I know are going to direct Suits LA and are still close friends of mine. So, never say never. I think for all of us, we just wanna make sure it was the right fit and a good story and that it made sense. So, we haven’t put any pressure on the situation. I know they have Gabriel going back now, which hopefully will be great for that show, and fans would love to see Harvey back in the suit. But yeah, maybe in time, I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m certainly not closed off to it.

Thanks to Patrick J. Adams for taking the time to talk about Young Werther.