Exclusive Interview
‘People We Meet on Vacation’: Lukas Gage Declares Emily Bader ‘Our Generation’s Julia Roberts’
Lukas Gage thinks his People We Meet on Vacation costar, Emily Bader, is “our generation’s Julia Roberts.” He made sure to add, “And you can quote me on that.”
The White Lotus alum is set to appear in the adaptation of author Emily Henry‘s romance book of the same name, which comes out in January. In fact, fans just got their first glimpse of Gage’s character opposite Bader and Tom Blyth. (The latter had similar praise for Bader, though he compared the actress to another rom-com queen: Meg Ryan.)
When Gage sat down with Swooon just a few days before the teaser dropped, he gushed about the movie’s leads. “[Bader] is unbelievable,” he continued. “Tom is amazing, too. They’re both [amazing], but the world, I don’t think, knows about Emily Bader quite yet, and it’s gonna love her.”
Gage confirmed that Bader — who he thought was “incredible” in Prime Video’s My Lady Jane — is exactly what he imagined Poppy to be when he read the 2021 novel. Readers will be happy to know that Gage is a big Emily Henry fan. In his eyes, she’s “one of the best writers ever and made one of the greatest stories ever” with People We Meet on Vacation.
“I think I will be 100% transparent, there’s a lot of book-to-film adaptations that I’ve seen that I don’t feel like… I see it so clearly in my head. I’m like, they’ve missed the mark,” he said. “With People We Meet on Vacation, I see exactly what Emily Henry wrote brought to life.” (Cue the sigh of relief from book purists.)
Speaking of book-to-screen accuracy, the teaser trailer all but confirmed that Gage is playing Buck, which fans have guessed since his casting was announced. The short clip’s dialogue came almost straight off the page: In the book, college-aged Poppy and Alex meet Buck on a trip to Canada. When he assumes they’re a couple, they’re quick to deny it. (In the teaser, though, it seems like Buck’s friend Daisy is the one to question the duo.)
Do we know for sure that Gage is playing the laid-back water taxi driver? “They won’t let me say anything yet,” Gage admitted when we spoke with him. “But there’s a lot of speculation online, and some people are right on the target, I’ll say that.”
We caught up with the actor as he was promoting his upcoming memoir, I Wrote This for Attention, and Gilead’s HealthySexual campaign. In his book, the actor gets candid about romance and the realities that come with it, including staying on top of your sexual health. He details his own STI experience in one of the chapters, which he hopes breaks health taboos.
“I don’t want people, including myself, because I’m guilty of it as well, to be shameful about talking about my sexual health,” he said. “I feel like whenever I would talk about that story in particular or a couple others in there, I felt myself shrink and get small, and I just I got sick of doing that, and I think having open conversations is the thing that ultimately will help me own my own story and help me be back in control of it all, but also help inspire other people or have other people.”
Along with that and more reflections on his past relationships, you can also expect plenty of romance movie and show references in Gage’s book, which we won’t spoil for you yet. “I love love,” he said when asked about his attachment to the genre. “I will always love love. I will always be a romantic. I will continue to fall in love many times in this lifetime.”
In addition to People We Meet on Vacation, Gage has two more rom-coms coming down the pike: Love Language and Voicemails for Isabelle. They’re a switch-up from his recent horror movies, Companion and Smile 2. “I’m excited to be a part of it because I don’t think I really got to do rom-coms yet, so I hope that I get to make my mark in it,” he said.
The actor is manifesting that he’ll lead his own rom-com next, though he did already make a “really dark” one with 2023’s Down Low. “I’m writing some stuff as well,” he said. “I’m going to do it again. I’m going to keep making more and more of those roles for people to see.”
People We Meet on Vacation, January 9, 2026, Netflix
