“Tis the season to let your guard down.“
Netflix is kicking off the holiday season with the trailer release for their upcoming romance film, Guarding Stars, starring Leighton Meester and Jared Padalecki.
Based on Katherine Center‘s 2022 bestseller The Bodyguard, Meester stars as a no-nonsense bodyguard Hannah Brooks, assigned to protect Hollywood action star Jack Stapleton (Padalecki) from a stalker while he visits his family in Montana for the holidays.
However, plans change when Padalecki‘s Jack suggests the two pretend to be in a relationship so his family doesn’t worry about him needing a bodyguard. But in true fake-dating romance fashion, things get complicated when the lines start to blur between fiction and reality.
In the trailer, released Wednesday, the first interaction between Hannah and Jack is anything but a meet-cute with Jack initially questioning how she could be his bodyguard.
“For you to get me on the ground would be impossible,” Jack tells her only for Hannah to then pin him to the ground in seconds. “That was badass,” he says shocked.
Despite Hannah admitting to never seeing any of his films and Jack telling her she doesn‘t seem to “get out much,“ the two must learn how to navigate each other quickly to be convincing enough for his family to think they‘re an actual couple.
Andie MacDowell, Noah LaLonde, Walker Hayes, Toby Sandeman, Rachael Ancheril, Shaun Johnston, Phil Brooks and pop singer Ava Max also star in the film.
The film is directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum and written by Erin Cardillo, Richard Keith, Gina Matthews and Grant Scharbo.
“I began paying close attention to BookTok culture around the success of my last Netflix film, Purple Hearts,” Allen told Netflix‘s Tudum of the film. “The overwhelming enthusiasm on social media and with readers for Katherine Center’s novel was a major factor in my decision to come on board as director. It’s been amazing to work closely with Katherine so far and to see her so excited about moving her witty story about a no-nonsense bodyguard [for] an A-list actor into the holiday season. It makes the most gorgeous backdrop for the sparks that fly between them to be even brighter.”
Robin Fisichella executivve produces. Producers include Matthews and Scharbo with Little Engine Productions and Jared and Genevieve Padalecki with Living in the Asterisk.
Guarding Stars premieres on Netflix on Nov. 18.