SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Anna has lost her mother. She left culinary school. She lost her job as a professional house sitter for making herself too comfortable. She meets Matteo, a dashing Italian stranger who leaves her a note to encourage her to come to Tuscany, which she does, then filches a key to one of Matteo's villas and is discovered by his family wearing an old family treasure.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "YOU, ME AND TUSCANY")
ISABELLA FERRARI: (As Gabriella) Don't you understand? The key. The ring.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, speaking Italian).
FERRARI: (As Gabriella) She's marrying Matteo.
HALLE BAILEY: (As Anna) Yes. You got me. I'm marrying Matteo.
SIMON: But is she? And then she meets a man who looks like Rege-Jean Page. And does that sound like a rom-com, or what?
BAILEY: (Laughter).
SIMON: "You, Me & Tuscany" stars Halle Bailey, and yes, Rege-Jean Page. And Halle Bailey, the acclaimed singer-songwriter and actress joins us now from our studios in New York. Thanks so much for being with us.
BAILEY: Hi. Thank you so much for having me.
SIMON: It's hard not to feel for Anna, who has lost her mother and sacrificed her education. But I mean, stealing keys and pretending you're engaged to someone.
BAILEY: Yeah. That's a little extreme (laughter).
SIMON: And it takes advantage of the feelings of the family, doesn't it? Because she inserts herself...
BAILEY: Yes.
SIMON: ...In Matteo's family, and they're so happy to see her.
BAILEY: She gets away with a lot in the film at the beginning, but you can see, at the end - no spoilers - but how it turns out for her and how she has to open up and be honest.
SIMON: Yeah. She meets Matteo's cousin, Michael, an accomplished vintner. What does that set off?
BAILEY: So it sets off a lot of things for Anna, I think. They start off - she doesn't really like him. He stole her sandwich. She's like, who is this guy? Why is he here?
SIMON: Well, he paid for the sandwich in advance.
BAILEY: (Laughter).
SIMON: But yes. All right, go ahead.
BAILEY: Yes. But to her, it was her sandwich. I always love that in a rom-com, where you can see two people start off not so great but then learn more about each other, and you start to feel that building chemistry. And it was a very fun thing to do with Rege. He's super talented, and I loved our characters' arcs in the story.
SIMON: What does Anna find in cooking?
BAILEY: So Anna finds an escape. She finds peace in cooking, and she also finds memories back to her mother. Her mom was an amazing chef, worked at a Michelin-star restaurant. So she grew up always helping her mother. And so she has these aspiring dreams. She's - you know, went to culinary school. But unfortunately, when her mom passed away, she kind of just gave up. And I feel like we all can relate to maybe hitting a moment in our lives where we just kind of stop or give up or pause on our dreams. But I also, in my head, I was like, please just get back to the stove. Like, that's where your heart is (laughter).
SIMON: I don't have to tell you - you're Ariel for a lot of people...
BAILEY: Yes.
SIMON: ...From the live-action "Little Mermaid." Is that a kind of responsibility?
BAILEY: It definitely is. I think whenever you are going to be a part of a story that so many people have held close to their hearts since they were younger, it's a big responsibility, and it's also an honor to be a part of it. But people really care about things that they cared about when they were small. And, you know, these are vivid memories - when you see a movie for the first time, and "The Little Mermaid" was one of the first movies that I saw. And I remember just being blown away by it. So of course, people are going to be a little protective over it. And I was - I think I was ready for that, and I was excited to be on the journey of making the live-action one.
SIMON: Does it risk typecasting as you go along in your career?
BAILEY: You know, I don't think so. I think, like, this movie is very different. Like, Anna and Ariel are very different from one another.
SIMON: Oh, I'll say.
BAILEY: And I love that.
BAILEY: Yeah.
SIMON: May I try a theory out on you about rom-coms?
BAILEY: Sure.
SIMON: I think, at some level, what we love about rom-coms is that they seem to say, no matter how unexpected and unlikely the path, there is somebody out there for us.
BAILEY: Yeah. I 100% agree with that. I think rom-coms are so beautiful because sometimes you just need to watch a movie that makes you feel good, that makes you feel joyful. And I really appreciate that. Especially as I get older, and I realize, like, there's so much going on - the world that we live in. There's a lot going on in the world right now, and sometimes we just need to go on an escapade altogether as a community - sit in a dark theater and a big screen, and just do something together that makes us love and laugh and feel good.
SIMON: Halle Bailey stars in "You, Me & Tuscany," along with Rege-Jean Page and Tuscany. Thank you so much for being with us.
BAILEY: Thank you so much. I love your voice. You sound like Santa (laughter). It's so good. It's like I can hear you about to burst into Christmas songs or something. It's very soothing - your voice.
SIMON: Thank you so much, Halle Bailey.
BAILEY: Thank you (laughter).
SIMON: Can we sing a Christmas song?
BAILEY: Sure (laughter). Which one should we sing?
SIMON: You choose. You're the professional.
HALLE BAILEY AND SCOTT SIMON: (Singing) Jingle bells. Jingle bells. Jingle all the way.
BAILEY: (Laughter).
SIMON: Oh, you're so much better than I am.
(SOUNDBITE OF DEAN MARTIN SONG, "JINGLE BELLS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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