“Voicemails for Isabelle” Writer/Director/Actor Leah McKendrick on Grief, Love & Rewriting the Rom-Com Playbook
Equally enamored of rom-com legend Nora Ephron and Swedish dance music diva Robyn, writer-director-actress Leah McKendrick breathes new life into Hollywood’s well-worn genre with Voicemails for Isabelle (streaming June 19 on Netflix). McKendrick crafts snappy dialogue peppered with references to classics like Jerry Maguire, You’ve Got Mail, Bridget Jones, Love Actually, The Fault in Our Stars, and A Walk to Remember. “These are the movies that raised me, so I’m just trying to pay respects to the ones that came before,” says McKendrick, a former pop singer who previously starred in 2024 frozen-egg dramedy Scrambled.
In Voicemails for Isabelle, McKendrick follows Zoey Deutch as an aspiring San Francisco pastry chef whose tender-hearted voice messages intended for her sister (Ciara Bravo) are heard by a Texas real estate agent (Nick Robinson) when Isabelle’s number is reassigned to him after her death. Complications and palpitations ensue.
Speaking from Los Angeles, McKendrick retells the joke that bombed in a comedy club but inspired her movie’s premise, revisits Zoey Deutch’s epic kitchen rant, and mic drops two of the most romantic lines in the history of rom-coms.
Congratulations on making a funny, heartfelt rom-com in 2026
Thank you.
The emotional core of this film is fueled by the love between two sisters. Do you have a sister?
I do. Her name is Olivia Isabelle, and she is the inspiration for this film. If I were to lose my little sister, I would be completely untethered from this earth, kind of like how Jill is at night, looking out at the Golden Gate Bridge, where she’s neither down with society nor up in the sky with her sister. That would be me.
With Voicemails for Isabelle, you give the rom-com formula some fresh twists by including the hook that’s right there in the title. What was your light bulb moment when you realized you could build a romantic comedy around iPhone voice messages?
I went to a comedy show in Burbank where my roommate did a hilarious bit about her British father who leaves her 20- minute-long voicemails, rambling, “Oh, the weather was quite warm, and, uh, your mother made chicken.” It was so funny, and then the next comedian got on stage, and she goes, “It’s so nice that your dad calls you back. My dad hasn’t called me in three years.” And then she goes, “I mean, he’s dead.” Everybody in the audience was uncomfortable, but I thought to myself, “That’s such a funny idea: a girl who’s waiting for her dead dad to call her back.” Then I thought, “If my dad died, I wouldn’t be waiting for him to call me because he doesn’t call me now, and he’s alive.” And then I thought: “If my sister passed away, I’d be waiting every day for her to call me.” And then I thought: “No, if my sister died, I would be calling her. And I would keep calling her.” So right there, in that comedy club in Burbank, is where I thought of the idea for Voicemails for Isabelle.
Your characters reference the movies The Fault in Our Stars and A Walk to Remember, in which the love interest dies in the third act. But here, the tragedy happens within the first half hour, contrary to convention.
I did not go to screenwriting school, but when it comes to structure, what I’ve learned is that as long as you learn the rules somewhat, you can break the rules. I believe in being experimental, especially in a genre that a lot of people think is so predictable and so color-by-numbers. I hope people will find some nods to the tropes, but there’s also going to be some weird stuff, and I promise you, I’ve had to fight for it. Sometimes I just had to trust my inner North Star, even if it feels a little unorthodox.
Did your plot structure evolve over time?
In the original draft, Jill and Wes meet each other face-to-face a lot later. I was, like, “Go watch Sleepless in Seattle. They don’t meet…” But I also understand that we’re living in a different time now, and I understand that people want to see Nick Robinson and Zoey get together. So, you know, it’s a constant push and pull.
Your characters compare themselves to fictional rom-com characters played by Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle. I have to assume that Nora Ephron, the woman behind those movies, is one of your heroes.
The queen.
So you put the references right into the dialogue.
I never try to hide my influences. It’s why I referenced The Notebook, why I reference You’ve Got Mail. The tropes are there for a reason, because they feel good, and they deliver, and they’re triumphant, and they’re vulnerable. There’s a reason that the most quotable movies happen to be rom-coms. “You complete me” [from Jerry Maguire]. “I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” [from Notting Hill]. They hit.
Breeda, the character you play, refers directly to one of those tropes, where the hero runs passionately through the streets or an airport to find his true love. You say to Nick Robinson’s character, Wes: “This is the part where you run.”
Right? That’s a perfect example of me winking at the audience. We know what’s coming. I know you want it. I want it. And yeah, we’re doing it.
Besides having great chemistry with Nick Robinson, Zoey Deutch makes the movie pop with her delivery, her timing, and her physical comedy. What made you think of her for the role of Jill?
Zoey was adorable in Set It Up with Glen Powell and so funny in Zombieland 2: Double Tap. Of course, she’s also this incredible, emotionally available, dramatic actress, so I’ve always loved her. She’s very quick, very sharp; you get nothing past her. But more than anything, I needed somebody like Zoey who was unafraid. In acting school, my professor used to say that the best actors are great because they’re brave and they just go for it. That’s where the magic is.
Zoey, as Jill, seems pretty fearless in the kitchen, where she hilariously rips into Nick Offerman’s sadistic chef, whom she’s spent the whole movie desperately trying to impress.
Zoey went “full Jilly McGuire” that day. It was so special, because she’s on her own, [psychologically] naked in this room full of crew and producers and me. I just wanted to hold her and protect her, but she didn’t need that. Zoey was ready. She knew the assignment. She was ready to rage.
The Isabelle soundtrack plays a significant role in this movie, amplifying the characters’ emotions. Did you have a hand in picking the songs?
Are you kidding? The songs are my everything. I was a pop singer and songwriter before I was an actor. Even with my little indie budget for my first film, Scrambled, I had Chappell Roan, I had my own cover of Black Sabbath, and I had Mandy Moore. I’m very particular.
Besides having what must have been a healthy music budget, how did you convince big artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Ariana Grande to share their songs?
I wrote a million love letters to these artists, saying, artist to artist, “Please lend me your magic. Your song inspired my script.” Being laser-focused like that has served me well, though it can be hard for my music supervisors because, as the film’s writer, I can be pretty immovable.
You know what you want.
And I’m super grateful to Netflix because this is my first time getting every single song that I wanted. I have Taylor Swift, Kesha, two Robyn songs, Usher, and Journey. I mean…I have Tony Bennett! It was an embarrassment of riches, which is why I’m so cocky about my soundtrack.
Most rom-coms feature a falling-in-love montage, and for Isabelle, it almost feels like a love letter to San Francisco as you follow the young lovers through the city. Was it important for you to shoot that sequence on location in San Francisco?
It was essential. I grew up in San Francisco, so there’s no way we could have gotten the textures right without a couple of days there. I had to make sure San Francisco felt real and authentic; otherwise, they’d kick me out! We did 17 locations in one day and ran faster than anything we did in Vancouver. It was more like a crazy indie film by that point, so getting to shoot in my hometown was everything I’d ever dreamed of.
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Featured image: Voicemails for Isabelle. (Featured L to R) Director Leah McKenrick and Zoey Deutch on the set of Voicemails for Isabelle. Cr. Diyah Pera/Netflix © 2026
