To celebrate The Kissing Booth 3, we caught up with Meganne Young to discuss her character Rachel, reflect on her favorite filming moments, and play a game of cast superlatives where she crowns Joey King as the funniest of the cast.
Meganne Young has captured the hearts of Netflix’s Kissing Booth fans since the release of the first movie. The South African actress plays Rachel, Lee’s romantic interest and a cool and compassionate addition to the friend group. The global phenomenon started with a book, which was originally published in the popular writing platform, Wattpad. While Meganne hadn’t read the book prior to booking the role, her experience in getting the part of Rachel involved the usual audition process. While she knew there was something special about the story and the cast, the hype that this trilogy has earned all over the world continues to amaze her. Since the first movie, Rachel’s character has grown tremendously. In fact, Meganne revealed that she tapped into her own personal experience throughout this project to bring the unique and daring Rachel to life.
“I might have lost my temper a little sooner than Rachel, but for the most part, I think we are quite similar. I always try to see as much of a perspective as I can and see all sides of a situation. I’m definitely a communicator. I like to talk things out. I like to deal with things as they come. I don’t want to put them aside and let them fester. So in those ways, I think I’m quite similar to her,” Meganne said.
After a successful release of the second installment, we couldn’t be more excited for the final piece to this trilogy. In many ways, the Kissing Booth has brought back the beloved teen rom-coms from the early 2000s we all love, but the characters still represent what it means to be young today in an accurate way. Rachel’s character reminds us of the importance of learning from our relationships, and making sure to put ourselves first. Meganne is especially proud of how her character has evolved throughout the movies. Although her light-filled personality jumped off our Zoom call, she admitted that in High School she struggled with leaning into herself and trusting her instincts. Without a doubt, her experience in the Netflix show has helped her forge those qualities even further.
Now, buzzing with the excitement of the final release, Meganne has gotten the chance to look back at her favorite moments from the movies.
“We’re all so proud of this film and so excited that the fans wanted more and that we came back to do more. That was my favorite part. I am a collaborator, I love collaborating with people and I definitely felt like I got to do that with my cast members,” Meganne said.
Although Rachel will forever live as a special part of her life and career, Meganne has her sights set in the future. Her talent shines through the screen, which makes us thrilled to see how far she’ll go and where we'll see her next. When asked about what projects she’d love to be attached to in a near future, Meganne didn’t shy away from revealing her dream role.
“I want to do a boxing movie. I don’t look like I’m threatening in any way but I actually enjoy boxing and would love to play a boxer. Can they make Million Dollar Baby 2? I’m ready!” Meganne said.
While most of her time is consumed by acting, Meganne still finds ways to pursue other passions. If you follow her on Instagram (which you should absolutely do), you’ll notice that her bio reads “sustainably conscious.” This reveals one of Meganne's most passionate interests and causes off the screen.
“I started learning more about the fashion industry, the fast fashion industry. That was a very organic process. Beyond the narrative of less plastics, or eating organic, or carbon footprints but learning more about the fashion industry in particular. It’s always about learning and understanding and being conscious of it. It can be quite overwhelming when you feel like you need to make all these changes and there’s so many things in place that make it really difficult to do that, but it’s worth it,” Meganne said.
As excited as we are for the release of the third movie, we also can’t ignore the fact that this release means it’s the last we get to see of Rachel. As Meganne bids farewell to a character she’s grown to love, it was impossible not to take a detour down memory lane during our interview. While our conversation shed light on some of her favorite moments from behind the scenes, we decided to play a game of Kissing Booth superlatives, which Meganne gave to most of her fellow cast members.
Kissing Booth Superlatives by Meganne Young
Most likely to break into a song in between takes: Zandile Madliwa
Most likely to become a lifelong friend: Taylor Zakhar Perez and Joey King
Cast Clown: Joey King
Most likely to break character in a scene: Joel Courtney
Most likely to memorize everyone’s lines: Joey King
Most likely to know everyone’s zodiac signs: Taylor Zakhar Perez
While she didn’t want to risk any spoilers, Meganne left us with a few words that will definitely keep loyal fans excited to watch the latest movie, and will inspire a new audience of viewers as well.
“You’ll definitely see us and you’ll definitely see relationship dynamics and that’s all I’ll say about that one” and ends off her words with a laugh.
Arjun Malik - Photographer (@arjuna)
Shengting Xiao - Hair & Makeup (@shengtingmakeup)
Jewelry (Rings): Bold&Kind (@beboldandkind)
You can watch The Kissing Booth 3 now, only on Netflix. Make sure to follow Meganne on Instagram!