In Solo Mio, a wedding disaster leaves the groom stranded in Rome, heartbroken in the world’s happiest city. But with one determined local—and a few meddling vacation couples—in his corner, his ruined honeymoon becomes an adventure he never expected. Because sometimes heartbreak is just the first chapter of a better story.
Directed by Charles Kinnane and Daniel Kinnane from a script by Kevin James, Patrick Kinnane, and John Kinnane, Solo Mio sees James take on the role of heartbroken art teacher, Matt Taylor. The King of Queens icon is joined on screen by an all-star cast that includes Alyson Hannigan, Kim Coates, Jonathan Roumie, and Nicole Grimaudo.
Roumie is best known for his role in the hit TV series The Chosen. The actor also counts Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, and Jesus Revolution among his credits.
In Solo Mio, Roumie plays Neil, a newlywed with a very interesting story about how he and his wife met. When we spoke with him last week, Roumie took us through what drew him to the project, the experience of working with James, how he approached comedy, and what it means to him as an actor to see Angel Studios prioritise theaters.
In our review of the movie, we wrote, "A rare perfect romantic comedy bursting with heart and big laughs, Solo Mio finds Kevin James at his absolute best in this must-see date night movie." The movie currently has 100% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
You can check out our full interview with Jonathan in the player below.
This is such a fun role in such a lovely movie. What drew you to the project?
Kevin James called me. I'd become friends with him a few years ago, and he said, 'Hey, I think I got a movie for us.' I said, 'Awesome. Whatever it is, I'm in,' because it's Kevin James and he's a legend. Then I got on a call with him and the Kinnane brothers—Dan and Chuck were directing, and Pat was one of the writers—and we talked about the story. I just fell in love with the character. They gave me such freedom to bring my own ideas to the script and the character. As we got closer to filming, they let us run with improvs between me, Kim Coates, who plays Julian, and Kevin, who plays Matt. It was just this awesome ensemble. The women are so good in this, too—Julee Cerda, Julie Ann Emery, and Alyson Hannigan. We were given carte blanche to just have a blast.
You mentioned the friendship there, that three-way friendship with Kim and Kevin's characters. It's so much fun. I imagine those days on set must have been hard to keep a straight face sometimes.
Oh, yeah. I knew Kevin was funny going into this. I'd never worked with Kim before, and he's hilarious. He's known for playing all these dark, grizzly characters, but he is absolutely hilarious. I look at him—those big blue eyes, a twist of the head or an expression—and you're just on the floor. This is amazing. What a gift. It was really a treat to get to play with these guys. They're just absolute top class.
I love the dynamic between Neil and Julee's characters. It's so weird and just so funny and so charming, but quirky.
It is quirky, that's true. Their arrangement as a married couple and how they got to be married—I won't give anything away—is very quirky, but it is born out of love and passion. Neil wears his heart on his sleeve a bit. He means well, and he leads with his best intentions.
Shooting this film in Italy, you're in some stunning surroundings. How was that? Does that help with your performance, but at the same time, is it just a treat to be somewhere like that to tell a story like this?
It was really difficult because we just wanted to have coffee and eat pastries and pasta all the time. 'Oh wait, we got to work. Okay, let's try to work. Oh, wait, we can eat pasta in the scene. Okay, great.' It was kind of how you would imagine it to be. The hours are a little longer than an average workday for most people, but it was a delight. One of my favourite film experiences in my career thus far.
In a comedy like this one, do you get a lot of room for improvisation? There's that great scene with Neil drunkenly singing early on in the film. Do you get to play around with scenes like that in the moment?
That was part of the whole approach—just have fun with it. Dan, one of our directors, made it really easy. They would set up the camera and say, 'Just do your thing.' We'd do a couple of takes of the script, and then they'd say, 'All right, throw it away. Just have fun. Do one for you guys and see where it goes.' Half the time, they would use the improv over the scripted take. Who doesn't want to work like that? But you have to trust your directors and the talent on the other side of the scene. I couldn't have been in better hands than with Kim, Kevin, Julee, and Alyson. It was a treat.
You've been friends with Kevin for a while, and I know this project means a lot to him. He's such a great comic actor—we see that here, but some drama too. Even last night, showing up on The Tonight Show, lending him that support. Has it been fun for you to do that?
It was a blast. I love the man. He's a good friend, a dear friend, and any way I can support him—because he has such a generous heart and he's so talented—anything he would want me to do, I would pretty much do sight unseen, more or less. We'll talk first, Kevin, if you've got some weird ideas, but for the most part, if this is the indication of what it's like to work with him, count me in.
I'm a big superhero movie fan, but I think it's so important for movies like this one to be seen in theaters. Angel Studios does such a great job with paying it forward and getting people to see movies. What does that mean for you as an actor to come on a project like this and really prioritise that theatrical experience?
Angel, when it comes to theatrical distribution and theatrical experiences, gets it. They understand the power of cinema, the power of the collective communal viewing experience, and how important theaters are for entertainment and as an art. In an age where we're all individually scrolling on our phones, you have to put your phone away to watch this in a theater. If you're watching it on streaming at home, how many distractions do you go through? Every other minute, we're distracted by a text or a DM. You have to see this on the big screen because there are things you won't pick up on a small screen. If you're keyed into the story and hearing other people around you laugh and cry and gasp—because there's a few plot twists in this romantic comedy, which is not the usual thing—you're missing the whole experience otherwise. That feeling of community—we need that so much because we've been so isolated and drawn into just being alone on our phones and scrolling. This is the perfect antidote to doom scrolling.
Solo Mio arrives in theaters on February 6.