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In How to Lose a Popularity Contest, high school is not just a setting. It is a full-blown arena. Every hallway feels like a stage, every interaction carries weight, and every decision has the potential to spiral into something bigger than expected.
The Tubi original romantic comedy leans into a familiar formula. There is the overachiever with something to prove, the popular guy with more beneath the surface, and a rivalry that slowly turns into something more complicated. But instead of resisting those tropes, the film embraces them, building a world that feels intentionally heightened, nostalgic, and unapologetically fun.
At its core, the story follows Ellie Pearse (Sarah Waisglass), an ambitious student determined to prove herself, who teams up with popular boy Nate Reed (Chase Hudson) in a student body presidential campaign that quickly becomes more personal than either of them anticipated. What starts as strategy turns into connection, and what begins as control slowly gives way to vulnerability.
I sat down with Chase Hudson and Sarah Waisglass to talk about bringing that energy to life, the unexpected nostalgia baked into the film, and why stories like this continue to resonate.
A Throwback Spirit
Before we even got into the interview, I wanted to do something a little different. In the spirit of the film, I pulled up my 8th grade yearbook photo. It was patriotic, awkward, and exactly the kind of image that probably should have stayed buried. Naturally, I showed it to them. What followed immediately broke the ice. It turned into jokes about campaign posters and popularity contests, and suddenly the conversation felt less like a formal junket and more like exactly what the movie is going for: a slightly chaotic, very real high school energy. That tone carried into the discussion. Watching the film, I kept thinking about the kind of movies I grew up around. High School Musical. Camp Rock. Those ensemble-driven stories where everyone gets a moment and the world feels just a little bit bigger than reality. Chase agreed that there is a sense of warmth in this film that separates it from more cynical takes on high school. The characters are not defined by cruelty or hyper-realism. There is a softness to the way they interact, a willingness to let moments land without undercutting them. Sarah mentioned that this clicked early on, even during the first read-through. It became clear that the movie would allow everyone to go big, to fully lean into their characters while still keeping things emotionally grounded.Finding the Balance
That balance between heightened comedy and emotional honesty is at the center of Sarah’s performance as Ellie. While the character can be intense, driven, and at times difficult, she approaches her with a sense of understanding. Comedy, for her, is not just about getting laughs. It is a coping mechanism. It is how Ellie navigates pressure, disappointment, and everything that comes with trying to control her world. It also makes the character more accessible. Even when Ellie pushes things too far, there is still something relatable underneath it. Chase, coming from a music background, spoke about how performance translates between mediums. Whether you are on stage or on camera, the fundamentals stay the same. Expression, rhythm, and emotional alignment all play a role. You can feel that in his performance. Nate could have easily been one-dimensional, but there is a looseness to the way he plays him that allows the character to evolve naturally.Back to School
One of the most fun parts of the conversation was how quickly we all locked into the shared experience of high school. The lockers. The classrooms. The weird, specific smell that every school seems to have. They both talked about how stepping back into that environment brought everything rushing back. There is something immediate about it. You do not ease into those memories. They just hit you. The film leans into that. It uses those details to ground everything, even when the story itself becomes heightened.A Familiar Formula That Works
This is a movie that knows exactly what it is doing. It does not try to reinvent the teen rom-com. It leans into it. And because of that, it works. There is comfort in the structure, but what makes it land is the ensemble. Everyone has a moment. Everyone contributes to the world in a way that feels intentional. That is what I kept coming back to while watching it. The same reason those early Disney Channel movies stuck. It is not just about the main storyline. It is about the energy of the group.A Nostalgic Kind of Fun
By the end of the conversation, one thing felt very clear. This is a movie that understands its audience. It is playful. It is a little chaotic. It is nostalgic in a way that feels intentional, not forced. And it gives its characters enough room to feel human underneath all of it. And sitting with Chase and Sarah, that same energy carries off screen. There is a genuine sense that they are enjoying what they are doing. They understand the tone, they understand the audience, and they are leaning into both. Because sometimes the movies that hit are not the ones trying to break the mold. They are the ones that remind you why you liked it in the first place.
In the increasingly crowded world of streaming romance, Kissing Is the Easy Part arrives as exactly what it promises to be: a light, easygoing teen love story with plenty of familiar beats and just enough charm to make the ride enjoyable.
Streaming on Tubi, the film stars Paris Berelc and Asher Angel as Flora and Sean, two high-school students on very different academic paths who end up unexpectedly tangled in each other’s lives. Sean is a top student headed toward Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while Flora is a rebellious standout who seems far more interested in living life than padding her résumé.
Their connection begins through a tutoring arrangement and slowly evolves into something more complicated. It’s a classic “opposites attract” setup, and the film leans into that formula without pretending it’s reinventing the genre. Think less sweeping cinematic revelation and more “Friday night popcorn movie that knows exactly what it is.”
And honestly, there’s something refreshing about that.
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From Wattpad to the Big Screen
Like many modern YA stories, Kissing Is the Easy Part started on Wattpad, the massive online platform where writers share stories that often develop passionate fan bases.
To kick off my interview with the cast, I decided to lean into that origin story with a quick game.
I read the actors three ridiculous-sounding Wattpad titles and asked them to guess whether they were real or completely made up. Among the contenders were Married to Three Brothers, Mated to the Werewolf King, and Swept Away by Your Love in Asher Angel Fanfiction.
Both actors confidently assumed at least one had to be fake.
They were incorrect.
“All of them are real,” I told them.
The realization was met with a mix of laughter and mild concern about the internet. In fairness, if someone told me Married to Three Brothers was a documentary, I might believe them for at least 30 seconds.
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The Scene That Sold Them
When asked what moment in the script made them realize the project would be fun to film, Paris Berelc didn’t hesitate.
“The pool scene during Homecoming,” she said. “I read it and thought, yep, sign me up.”
The scene represents the film’s big romantic moment, the kind of cinematic first-kiss sequence that feels like it was designed specifically for slow-motion edits on TikTok.
“It’s the iconic moment,” Berelc said. “It’s what we all want in high school. It’s what we dream about happening as our first kiss.”
Her co-star Asher Angel pointed to the smaller moments between the characters as some of his favorites to film.
“I liked all the hallway stuff,” he said. “Those scenes where Sean is trying to ask Flora out but doesn’t really know how.”
Which, to be fair, is probably the most accurate depiction of teenage romance ever put on film.
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Building the Chemistry
One interesting challenge for the actors came from the way movies are shot. Scenes are rarely filmed in order, meaning the actors had to constantly keep track of where their characters were emotionally in the relationship.
Berelc explained that before each scene they would sit down and figure out exactly where Sean and Flora stood in the timeline.
“Are we friends here? Are we dating? Are we already falling in love?” she said. “That would completely change how we talked to each other and even how we touched each other.”
That attention to detail helps the relationship feel natural, even when the story itself sticks fairly close to the well-worn teen-romance playbook.
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Why Tubi Makes Sense
Another interesting aspect of the project is its home on Tubi, a platform that has quietly built a massive audience by offering movies and TV shows for free.
Angel mentioned that he actually uses the platform regularly.
“I started watching anime on there not too long ago and got totally hooked,” he said.
Berelc added that accessibility was one of the things she appreciated about the project.
“With so many streaming platforms now, it’s hard to keep track of everything,” she said. “Having a place where you can just click and watch something without paying for another subscription is really great.”
And she’s not wrong. At this point, keeping track of streaming subscriptions sometimes feels like managing a small investment portfolio.
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A Fun, Easygoing Romance
Kissing Is the Easy Part isn’t trying to redefine the teen romance genre. It knows the formula and sticks to it: opposites attract, awkward flirting ensues, feelings develop, and complications inevitably follow.
Within that familiar framework, though, the film still manages to deliver a handful of genuinely sweet moments and a lead pair that feels comfortable sharing the screen.
It’s the kind of movie you throw on when you want something breezy, nostalgic, and a little chaotic in the way only high-school love stories can be.
And sometimes, that’s exactly the point.
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