From director Marc Meyers and screenwriter Todd Rosenberg, All My Life is inspired by the incredibly moving love story between Jennifer Carter (Jessica Rothe) and Solomon Chau (Harry Shum, Jr.), who find themselves in a race against time. When Sol receives a devastating diagnosis, it accelerates their life together and makes them appreciate every moment along the way even more.

During the film’s virtual press junket, Collider got the opportunity to chat 1-on-1 with actor Harry Shum, Jr. about the task of living up to the real Jenn and Sol, getting the chemistry right, how the kindness of strangers gave them the wedding of their dreams, the most stand-out moments of the shoot, and the freedom that the real Jenn gave them in finding their characters. He also talked about the status of the Crazy Rich Asians sequel, shooting a movie during the pandemic, and which TV show he’d love to be a part of.

Harry Shum Jr. and Jessica Rothe in All My Life
Image via Universal Pictures

COLLIDER: First of all, to start off with a fun and unrelated question, if you could play a character in one of your favorite TV shows, whether it’s currently on the air or not, who would you want to play and what would you want to do in that world?

HARRY SHUM, JR.: I would love to be a janitor in Lovecraft Country, for the clean up of all of these monsters exploding and the bloodshed. We never talk about what the clean-up crew looks like and whether they question, “Woah, what happened here?” I think that would be awfully funny. I don’t know if that would sell, at all, but for my little mind, I think it should. You could do that with so many shows. You could be the clean-up crew for so many shows that ignore that. That would be a series in itself.

When you read this script, what was it that you most connected with? There are so many ups and downs and highs and lows throughout this relationship. What most struck you about it?

SHUM: It was really their support. There are moments where they’re trying to figure out each other, but more in the sense of making sure that that one doesn’t give up on the other, or even on themselves. That also spoke a lot to how the movie was made. Collectively, we all had this purpose of making sure that we fulfilled the real Jenn and Sol, and what their love represented. We wanted to make sure that we could carry that onto the big screen and really affect people on the other side of it. That was something that really drew me into it, and how we could extend Sol’s strength and his warrior-like positivity of how he dealt with this terrible thing that affects so many people in the world.

A film like this doesn’t work if you don’t believe and care about the couple at its center. At what point in the process did you and Jessica Rothe actually get to meet, and did you have one of those moments where you could breathe a sigh of relief because you realized that part of it would work?

SHUM: Yeah. Sometimes that’s a fear of yours, when you’re a part of a project and everything feels right. You wonder if it’s too good to be true. Of course, there are a lot of challenges in making sure scenes feel full and have purpose. But the chemistry started from when I did a chemistry read with Jess. Jess was already on board of the project and I already knew of her being a talented actress, but I didn’t know her too much as a person. But at the chemistry read, there was this level of trust that happened right away. We were there to support each other and uplift each other, and that happened within minutes of us meeting. That’s when we both knew that we could make something really, really great, portraying this couple that was madly in love, and not just that, but they really showed their cards, on who they were as human beings, with what they were dealt. That was really important for us and that was our focus. That helped us along the way.

It must be so hard to tell a story like this because you connect to the characters and their relationship, but you know the real life outcome and there’s nothing you can do to change that. Through the tragedy of it all, what do you see as the most joyous aspect of their story?

SHUM: The most joyous [aspects] are the moments that will live on forever. It sounds cliché, but the way that it’s told in this movie is what’s special and unique. When you’re talking about stories like this and you hear different stories of what people go through, in this particular story, there’s a message and a hyper focus on optimism. We all don’t want to think about or talk about or deal with the inevitable end or our mortality, but what’s important is that the fact that someone like Sol is able to face it and say, “I’m not gonna let this tear me down or take these special moments away from me.” Jenn was just as strong as Sol was throughout this whole time. They both had their ups and downs, but they got through it together, and that’s what’s most important. And also, it’s a reminder that there’s a lot of kindness in the world. That was a big proponent of how they got to actually make those memories. It was the kindness of strangers feeling that connection and contributing to helping them have the wedding of their dreams.

Harry Shum Jr. and Jessica Rothe in All My Life
Image via Universal Pictures

You had early success in your career as a dancer, but over time, you’ve really moved further from roles that just focused on that. Was there a turning point for you, where you felt like you went from being a dancer who could also act, to being an actor who had dancing or singing in his bag of tricks but didn’t necessarily have to rely just on that?

SHUM: Yeah. It’s always that thing when you do something and you do it for a long time and you’re known for that, people only see you in that way. Growing up, I just loved entertaining. The weird thing is that I love the art, but I also love the business side of it, and I looked at dance the same way. In the industry, we categorize people, but if you’re an artist, you’re an artist. If you can play the guitar while you’re acting, then that’s something that is just another tool in the toolbox. And for dancing, in particular, I really am grateful that I got to experience those professional moments with dancing because it also taught me the extreme of it, which instead of moving is the stillness and to dance with your emotions and to dance internally. I don’t know if it sounds too artsy fartsy, but that has been a big part of how I’m able to channel that stuff without actually having to move my feet or move my arms. That’s been really unique for me to experience while acting.

Along with all of the sad stuff that’s in this, you also have some totally normal and mundane moments, like brushing your teeth together, and there are some fun and silly moments, like the proposal scene. What were the most stand-out moments on this shoot for you?

SHUM: It’s crazy, it’s been a year since we shot it, and the layer on top of that is that it was pre-pandemic. Just the ease of shaking someone’s hand, hugging someone, or putting your head on someone’s shoulder is a huge moment, in itself, even though it’s so small. We got to do so many things in this movie. We got to go go-karting in the rain, and that usually never happens because you’re not allowed to do that. And then, we got that huge singing moment with everyone belting a song that’s contagious. And then, me and Jess got to jump in a fountain at one in the morning in a wedding dress and a tuxedo, and got to frolic around and have that magical kiss that’s made for the movies. There were just so many moments. I look back and I’m so grateful that we got to do that, for the greater purpose of really honoring Jenn and Sol, and that’s really cool. The moments that they cherished were the small moments and the more intimate ones that we usually don’t really talk about, but those are the moments that really matter and are something that can live forever for a lot of people.

How was the experience of getting get dressed up and shooting a wedding without having to actually have the pressure of planning a wedding and worrying about where you’re going to seat everybody or whether the food is going to be terrible? Was that fun to do?

SHUM: Yeah. It took us a few days to shoot that scene, just because it was so big and there were so many people. To see everyone dressed up, it really felt like we were at the wedding. The wedding dance and Keala Settle singing [were] just magical. We had a fun moment because she had to sing that late into the night. It was the last shot. It said a lot about our cast that we all stayed. It was past when we were supposed to be wrapped. The rest of the cast stayed and danced off camera, just so that she could have a reaction. We were just acting goofy and lifting each other up in the Dirty Dancing lifts. We didn’t want it to end. It was really fun to have that in the shoot. A lot of times, actors wanna go home and do their own thing, but we wanted to continue and didn’t wanna stop.

Harry Shum Jr. and Jessica Rothe in All My Life
Image via Universal Pictures

How nervous were you to find out what the real Jenn not only thought about you being cast as this character, but how you portrayed him in the film? What was that like?

SHUM: Absolutely scary and nerve-wracking. When you jump on, you’re like, “Okay, I have this job to do. I have to do research to do this a certain way.” Jenn and Jess spoke before I hopped on the project, and what was important to Jenn was giving us a little bit of freedom. She said, “Don’t feel like you have to portray me in a way of getting my mannerisms and every little detail.” It was important, but it’s not a biography. It’s a moment of life. It’s the most important part of Sol’s message and what he represented, and their relationship and the love that was so strong that it got them through the hardships. That, to me, just really opened my eyes. A lot of times, as an actor, when you go into a project, you think you have to have the answers. It was a wonderful experience throughout the shoot, and even in the middle, to learn things that would make you pivot and do something differently to make the story between Jenn and Sol more authentic.

It seems like a very tricky balance to have some humor and inspire people, but not drag people down too much or cross over into overly cheesy. Did that feel challenging?

SHUM: Todd Rosenberg wrote a beautiful script with a lot of nuance. The introduction of the dog just breaks your heart, but it’s such a brilliant way to help tell the story without it getting so on the nose. And then, you have someone like Marc Meyers with his sensitivity, and he was very vulnerable. A director’s job is to give direction, but it’s also about creating an environment and a safe space, like he allowed for Jess and I and the rest of the cast, to have. We had some freedom to play around, to find that right tone and space. The behind the scenes work was that we all just cared a lot, to the point where, after we finished shooting, we would grab some food real quick and then go to one of our apartments to figure out what the scene really meant and what it really represented. We didn’t wanna do something just for the sake of moving the story forward. That was really important for us. That really helped to get a more grounded pathway to tell this story.

Have you heard any update yet on when filming might happen for the Crazy Rich Asians sequel?

SHUM: I wish I had an answer for you. It’s highly anticipated. I’m anticipating it. I’m ready to go. The creatives are just trying to get it right. They were adapting a book that was so popular, but they didn’t expect it to be this popular. They’re working steadily on making it right and they wanna make something memorable, which takes time. And 2020 has been a difficult year for a lot of people, but I’m optimistic about them getting it right and hopefully getting to that point where we start shooting.

How do you not get too excited about it when you have no idea when it will actually happen?

SHUM: It’s hard. I just worked with Jimmy O. Yang, who was in CRA, and we talked about it. We remember the feeling of going and eating after shooting and continuing to wanna hang out with each other. Those are those things that I get excited thinking about. Hopefully, when it does go, we can do that again and just eat with friends again. That’s what that movie was. It was just a whole bunch of friends eating and having fun, and that’s what really jumped on screen. They’re just wanting to make sure the story is right so we can capture that again.

Do you know what you’re doing next? Are you working on something now, or are you trying to figure out how to work on things in the safest way possible?

SHUM: I just got off a movie, literally yesterday, and I came back to L.A. We got through the whole shoot and I think we got some great material, but most importantly we were safe. We got through it and we finished on time. We had a wonderful producer that made sure that was a priority. It gives me hope for upcoming productions. Hopefully, everyone can learn from each other to have some unity in that aspect, so we can keep doing this. I think the world needs as many stories and entertainment as possible, especially during this time. Seeing how the next couple of months looks, I think people are gonna need to stock up on entertainment, and for self-reflection, in a deeper sense.

What’s the project that you just finished?

SHUM: It’s this movie called Love Hard, and it’s a Netflix movie starring Nina Dobrev and Jimmy O. Yang.

All My Life is now playing in theaters.