Exclusive Interview
‘Sidelined 2’: Noah Beck Breaks Down Dallas & Drayton’s Cliffhanger Ending (VIDEO)
What To Know
- Sidelined 2: Intercepted premiered on November 27 and ended on a cliffhanger.
- Star Noah Beck and director Justin Wu spoke with Swooon about why the sequel ended the way that it did.
- Beck revealed that he and costar Siena Agudong filmed different versions of the ending.
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Sidelined 2: Intercepted.]
How are we feeling, Dallas (Siena Agudong) and Drayton (Noah Beck) shippers? Sidelined 2: Intercepted pulls Dallas and Drayton in different directions once they get to college, forcing them to call it quits about halfway through the movie. But whereas the first Sidelined gives the couple a happy ending after their third-act breakup, the sequel goes in a totally different direction.
“I love the ending,” Beck told Swooon in a joint interview with Agudong and Charlie Gillespie, who plays rival love interest Skylar. (The former chimed in that she shares her costar’s opinion.)
Sidelined 2‘s final moments leave Dallas and Drayton’s romantic fate up in the air. After their mid-movie split, they never officially get back together, though they reconcile and are on good terms by the end. After cheering Drayton on at his first football game since his injury — she’ll “always be his number one cheerleader” — Dallas tells Drayton about her imminent move to New York.
They share a kiss before Dallas asks Drayton if he believes in “right person, wrong time.” He responds, “I’m not sure, but I think what’s meant to be has a way of working itself out,” before the two walk away from each other.
Bettina Strauss
“I just think, as a viewer, it would drive me insane, and it would make me crave for more,” Beck began, “because who knows if there’s going to be a third [movie] or not, but it does leave room for that interpretation of like, maybe it’s up to you. You tell me what happens to them.”
The actor said that they discussed Dallas and Drayton’s ending with the movie’s writers and even filmed a few different versions of it. “[It] was funny because we saw the edit, and we were just like, ‘That’s what they went with,'” Beck recalled. “And I’m happy with where it is because it is that thing that kind of drives you nuts as a viewer, and if you support this relationship, you’re like, ‘What? Make it work somehow.’”
Beck stressed that Dallas and Drayton getting a “fairy tale ending” wouldn’t have worked with the more grounded theme of the film. “Sometimes it just isn’t how it is working out,” he explained, adding that it’s one of the reasons the couple broke up in the first place.
“It’s just more matter-of-fact of this just isn’t working, and I’m not going to put any pressure on you or myself to continue to like, because then that leads to that resentment,” he said. “We care about each other too much to let it get to that point. So, it’s that saying, ‘If you love something, let it go.'”
Beck’s take on the ending reflects director Justin Wu’s vision. Wu told Swooon in a separate interview, “Of course, everyone loves a happy ending… but what I thought was really important is to have a very mature, authentic, realistic portrayal of college life. It’s really begging the question of what is your highest priority? Is it love? Is it career? Is it opportunity?”
He thought it would be a disservice to the audience and the characters if he didn’t have them wrestle with that. “So is it a movie about love prevailing?” Wu asked. “No, it’s really about a question that’s being posed.”
Sidelined 2: Intercepted, Streaming Now, Tubi
