Five Feet Apart Cast
Ryan Rhinehart
Five Feet Apart is a 2019 American romantic drama film directed by Justin Baldoni (in his directorial debut)[4] and written by Rachael Lippincott with Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. The film was inspired by Claire Wineland, who suffered from cystic fibrosis.[5] Haley Lu Richardson and Cole Sprouse play two young patients with cystic fibrosis who try to have a relationship despite being forced to stay six feet apart from each other. The film was released in the United States on March 15, 2019 by CBS Films via Lionsgate.[6] It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $92 million worldwide.
Teenagers Stella Grant and Will Newman have cystic fibrosis (CF), a progressive genetic disorder that damages organs and makes patients vulnerable to infections. Because of their compromised immune systems, patients with CF should not get closer to each other than six feet.
Stella, who copes with her illness by trying to maintain control of her daily regimen, takes her medication religiously and follows doctors' orders precisely. Will, a cynical rebel whose prognosis is grim, is much more lackadaisical, an attitude that frustrates the meticulous Stella.
When Stella discovers that Will is not doing his treatments, she tries to help him. In return, he only asks her for permission to draw a picture of her. Will begins to watch Stella's social media videos. Over time, they begin doing their treatments together.
Will and Stella fall in love, but they can't get closer than six feet to each other. Her G-tube becomes infected, so she has to undergo surgery to get it replaced. Will discovers that Stella's sister Abby, who unfailingly cared for Stella, died from a botched daredevil stunt one year ago. Because Abby is dead, Stella must face the operation alone, while wracked with survivor guilt. After learning of Abby's death, Will shows up to support Stella, and he sings her the song Abby always sang to her before surgery.
As Will leaves Stella's surgical prep room, he is caught by nurse Barb. She tells him about two young people with CF who died after they fell in love and broke the six-foot rule, contaminating each other. Will realizes he loves Stella too much to endanger her, so he tells her he can't see her anymore.
Stella becomes upset and angry but eventually plans to meet Will. She decides to take back one foot that CF has stolen from her, and carries a pool cue that measures exactly five feet so she can keep precisely that far away from Will.[7]
On Will's birthday, Stella's best friend Poe, another CF patient, dies. As an act of rebellion against CF, the two leave the hospital to visit the lights that Stella could see from her hospital room, as Stella has long dreamed of doing.
While away from the hospital, Stella receives a text that her lung transplant is en route, which she ignores. She falls through the ice of a frozen pond as she and Will leave to go back to the hospital. She struggles but is near death when Will reaches into the water and pulls her out.
Even though saliva contact is very dangerous for two people with CF, he gives her CPR to save her life. Stella survives, and Will and Stella are brought back to the hospital. Will fears that CPR he gave her may have infected her with B. cepacia, but Stella's lung transplant goes smoothly, and miraculously, she has not contracted B. cepacia.
Meanwhile, Will finds out that the drug trial he has been on has not been working for him. While Stella is still under anesthesia following the transplant, her parents, Will's mother, and the nurses and doctors help Will set up the lights outside of Stella's room.
After realizing he would likely infect her, Will decides to say a final goodbye to Stella and confesses his love for her. Before he leaves, he gives her his sketchbook of drawings he had done of her and her friends during their stay in the hospital.
Baldoni first became involved with cystic fibrosis when he directed the documentary My Last Days. He met YouTuber Claire Wineland and subsequently hired her as a consultant for the film. Wineland died from complications of a lung transplant for CF in September, 2018, a few months after filming was completed.[9]
In January 2018, Cole Sprouse was cast to star in the film, now entitled Five Feet Apart.[10][11] In April of that year, Haley Lu Richardson was also set to star, and Moiss Arias joined in a supporting role.[12][13] Principal production began a month later on May 25 in New Orleans, Louisiana[14][15] and concluded on June 26.[16]
The film's title refers to the "six foot rule", a guideline from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation which states that cystic fibrosis patients should be kept at least six feet (1.8 m) apart from each other, to lower the risk of cross-infection. In 2020, about a year after the movie's release, a similar guideline for social distancing to help slow the spread of COVID-19 would become nearly universal.[17]
The novel was published in November 2018 which allowed printing to begin in February of the following year. The first print run consisted of 90,000.[19] These copies were used to promote the upcoming release of the film.
Andrew Barker of Variety praised the performance of Richardson, which he called "a star turn," though described the film as an "otherwise formulaic teen romance."[27] Katie Walsh of the Los Angeles Times praised Richardson for the depth and range of her performance.[28] Caroline Siede of The A.V. Club commended the lead performances but said "In the end... even Richardson and Sprouse can't fully overcome the clumsy mawkishness around them."[29]
Responses from the cystic fibrosis community were mixed. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation welcomed the opportunity to raise awareness about the struggle many patients experience with the disease,[30] while others found fault with the film's depiction of medically dangerous behavior.[31] Others voiced concern about a terminal illness being romanticized and trivialized as a Hollywood teen romance plot device.[32]
One doctor from Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital voiced their concern by stating the movie had false premises on the "six foot rule" to begin with.[33] The doctor shared that the "six foot rule" was only accurate when outdoors.[33] They continued to share that when indoors, the "six foot rule" would be ineffective due to the fact that hospitals have one AC system, spreading the bacteria in a closed system.[33] According to Healthy Balance, by the University of Virginia, other myths about Cystic Fibrosis are exposed during the film. It is portrayed that Cystic Fibrosis is contagious by cough when in fact, it is not.[34] As well, the film shows the two lovestruck teens with oxygen tanks when that is not the case for everyone with cystic fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis can be diagnosed as unnoticable.[34]
The film was promoted using Instagram, where the studio paid influencers to post about hardships involving love and physical distance.[32] Many of the posts discussed family members who lived far away; the promotion was perceived as tone-deaf and trivializing a fatal disease.[35] After the ensuing backlash, the campaign was pulled, and the studio apologized.[35]
Based on their frequent social media interactions with one another, it's obvious that the cast of Riverdale is tight. And while we're more than happy to follow along with their frequent online trolling/support of one another, the red carpet premiere of Five Feet Apart, starring Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson, brought some of the gang together for a night of IRL fun.
On Thursday, March 8, the cast came out to support Cole in his newest role. Walking the red carpet with Lili Reinhart, the stars later shared some social media peeks from their time at the premiere. In an Instagram Story shared by Skeet Ulrich, the actor took a quick selfie of his premiere companions, joking that he was not five feet apart from Lili, Casey Cott, and Hart Denton.
Casey also got in on the premiere fun, sharing a Story of a screen that depicted an image of the Five Feet Apart promotional poster. In true Riverdale bestie fashion, he drew a heart around the screen. And while Lili didn't share any photos from the night on her Instagram, she was spotted sharing a kiss with Cole on the red carpet, People reported.
Don't take life for granted. Grab love and joy wherever you can find them, and treasure those closest to you, because you don't know when death will come calling. Strong element of "if you love someone, set them free." Themes also include perseverance, empathy.
Although cystic fibrosis community is split on some aspects of movie, there's agreement that this is one of the few movies to even attempt to represent what it's like for teens living with CF (or something other than cancer). Stella, who also has OCD, is diligent about her treatment schedule, craves order. She's caring, loving to her parents and close friends. Will is edgier and has less discipline, but he's artistic and loving and wants to live each day to its fullest. Poe is a caring, selfless friend. The nurses are patient, dedicated, empathetic.
A young man looks like he's perched precariously on a hospital roof and might fall. (Potential spoiler alerts ahead.) A young character who dies of cystic fibrosis is briefly shown coding, then dead on the floor. A character who looks to have died is saved via CPR. Sad conversations about loved ones who've died (and how they died).
Lots of yearning looks and one scene in which Stella touches her chest sensually in front of Will after they both declare they could touch each other. They also undress down to their underwear and jump into the hospital pool together but don't touch purposely. They hold gloved hands. A couple of cases of asexual accidental touches, both in times of stress or emergency.
Parents need to know that Five Feet Apart is based on the best-selling YA novel about Will (Cole Sprouse) and Stella (Haley Lu Richardson), two hospitalized 17-year-olds with cystic fibrosis (CF) who fall in love. Since the guideline for CF patients is that they should stay a minimum of six feet apart from each other due to the danger of cross-infection, the title refers to the one foot the pair "take back" to be a tiny bit closer as their love story develops. Language isn't frequent but includes a use of "f---ing," plus "s--t," "bulls--t," "a--hole," etc., and a few references to sex (or lack thereof). Will and Stella aren't supposed to touch, much less kiss (saliva exchange would be deadly, as one of them has a serious bacterial infection), so there's no sex, although they do undress down to their underwear in one romantic scene. The movie, which had a CF consultant, has been divisive within the CF community; some members are happy to see more awareness for the disease, which affects about 30,000 in the U.S., and others worry that the movie romanticizes the illness or misleads able-bodied audiences. Ultimately, the story promotes treasuring those closest to you and has themes of perseverance and empathy. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
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