Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with The Map of Tiny Perfect Things’ Kathryn Newton and Kyle Allen

If we were stuck in a temporal anomaly, one film that we’d want to watch over and over again is The Map of Tiny Perfect things.

Based on Lev Grossman’s short story, The Map of Tiny Perfect things follows a quick-witted teen named Mark who is content living the same day in an endless loop…that is until he meets Margaret. Together, they set out to find all the tiny things that make that one day perfect. What follows is a love story with a fantastical twist, as the two struggle to figure out how—and whether—to escape their never-ending day.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with stars Kathryn Newton and Kyle Allen about The Map of Tiny Perfect things, their favorite moments and lines in the film, and creating magic on screen.

PC: Could you each tell us about your characters in the film?
Kathryn: I play Margaret. She’s kind of like a rock star. She lives every day with no consequences and doesn’t want to think about the future. That’s pretty much Margaret. Right, Kyle, wouldn’t you say?

Kyle: I would say a lot more about her. I think you’re selling her a little short, but that’s typical. [laughs]

Kathryn: She’s a genius. This girl is a genius.

Kyle: This girl is a friggin’ genius and one of the coolest kids in school. She’s the one that’s like, “I don’t need this friend group.” Then the whole friend group is like, “Oh my God. Please. Can we hang out with you? We need you. We need you in our lives.” She’s so strong. She’s a survivor. She challenges the status quo. She’s a rebel with a cause.

Kathryn: I should let Kyle finish this interview. [laughs]

Kyle: Clearly. [laughs]

Kathryn: She’s on her own track, though. She’s creating her own reality; she doesn’t want to change it. She’s definitely strong in that way. Then, she meets this boy, Mark, who really interrupts her life path. She doesn’t know where he came from, and he changes everything for her.

Kyle: Yeah. I look at Mark as a puppy dog. He wakes up one day and time has stopped effectively. The same day is repeating, and he’s taking full advantage of it. He’s the kind of guy who is like, “Hey, how about this?” He’s like, “Oh, hey cool.” Then, he goes with it. Throughout the film, he actually learns that going through your life with that level of unconsciousness is not really how he wants to be. He starts to really, really see the people around him. He starts to really see the world. That’s mostly because of Margaret, who actually does see the world.

PC: What was it about this particular project and script that stood out to each of you?
Kathryn: I really wanted to crack Margaret. I was intrigued by this girl who didn’t want to move on. I wanted to know why she is the way she is. I wanted to create a character that everyone could understand, because I think I’m Margaret; I think everyone has felt like that in their life growing up. Growing up, you accomplish all these goals. You reach all these peaks. How do you keep dreaming? How do you think it’s going to get any better when you feel like you’ve done everything you could?

I feel like when you’re a teenager, you’re in a limbo, whether it’s a time loop or just this teenage wasteland where you feel like the same day’s happening over and over again. You feel like you’re never going to grow up. You’re never going to have that first love. I was really interested in exploring what is stopping her from experiencing her entire future. I think we all have that moment where we realize we create our future right now.

Kyle: I was drawn to it because the script was so beautiful. [You’re following] these two seventeen-year-olds, and they’re looking at the world as it is now. They’re looking at all the problems. There is so much stress, divide, and anxiety in the social spectrum, the political spectrum, the economic spectrum, the climate, everything. You can be a teenager looking at all this, and you’re like, “That’s my future? That’s what I have to look forward do? Maybe I want to stay here. Maybe I want time to stop.” That’s a large theme in our film. I was really, really interested in exploring that and telling that story.

PC: When we’re introduced to both your characters, they seem content to live in this endless time loop—that is until they meet each other. Can you tell us a bit about the impact that they have on one another?
Kathryn: Margaret is on a path of either self-destruction or self-discovery. She doesn’t need anyone telling her anything. Then this boy suddenly appears, and she doesn’t like it because he’s interrupting her program, but she can’t help that he’s cute. She has a crush on him. She likes the attention. She’s like, “Why him? Why is it just us?” They’re the only two people on the planet who, right now, are stuck together. He really helps her discover who she is. She falls in love with him along the way—that’s what makes her break out of it. The only way she’s going to be able to have that experience is if she decides she’s ready to have that experience. He helps her grow a lot.

Kyle: Mark is absolutely floored. He’s living in this time loop by himself to his knowledge; he has no idea that there’s anyone else. In his mind, the world revolves completely around him. He’s the only one that knows that yesterday was the same as today. He’s got his routine. Then, one day, he runs into Margaret. What he thought was his reality was completely shattered by the hands of this beautiful woman. He’s floored. He has no idea what to do. Consequently, like a typical male, he thinks, “This must be for me.” Then, he has a rude awakening, which allows him to grow.

PC: One of the major messages in the film is about embracing the moments in your life. When you each look at your own careers, is there a moment that comes to mind?
Kathryn: Oh my gosh. Yeah! The year that Three Billboards, Lady Bird, and Big Little Lies all won Golden Globes. I thought I would never do anything better than that. It’s like any moment in life, like graduating high school, it’s a huge deal. You have these dreams and goals, and you accomplish them, and they’re always better than you could have ever imagined.

Making Big Little Lies, I don’t think anyone thought about what an impact it would have beyond just making the project—the same with this movie. Every moment I had with Kyle and Ian [Samuels] was the best. Now, it’s out in the world and the dreams I had for the movie are surpassing what I expected. There are so many of those moments, but I hope that whatever dreams I have and whatever goals I accomplish, that they’re always better than I imagined. So far, that’s the case. I don’t know about you, but don’t you feel like that? You have these dreams and goals, and they are better than what you thought of for yourself.

Kyle: I don’t really set up goals; I set up directions. I don’t set up boxes to check. I set up like I want to move in this direction with everything I have, because it always ends up being more spectacular than what I could have imagined.

I had an eye doctor appointment this morning, and I was going up Highland. I used to live in West Hollywood, and I would drive up north. I would drive to Burbank. I would go through Hollywood and Highland and they have these huge billboards. At the time, I was feeling very lost and I didn’t have much direction. I was going to these acting classes and putting everything I had into them. I would look at these billboards at two or three in the morning and say, “Someday, I’m going to have a movie that’s on one of these billboards. I’m going to be on one of these billboards.”

Kathryn: Do we have a billboard?

Kyle: Today, I went up Highland. Literally, today. I was listening to music and I was thinking to myself, “Oh gosh. It’s so cool that I have a movie coming out. I used to go here, and I used to look at these billboards.” I rounded the corner and there was a billboard for The Map of Tiny Perfect Things.

Kathryn: Did you take a picture?

Kyle: Yeah! I took a picture.

Kathryn: Send them to me right now.

Kyle: I will. [laughs]

PC: The script is beautifully written and there are so many impactful moments and lines within the film. Do you have a favorite line from either your character or someone else’s?
Kathryn: That’s tough!

Kyle: Jermaine Harris, who plays Henry, has one of the best lines. He’s talking to Mark and he’s like, “You have to hang out with her.” Then, bit by bit he’s giving Mark relationship advice. He’s like, “Bit by bit, by imperceptible degrees, you get closer and closer, and then bam, you kiss her.” Mark says, “I don’t think that’s the sound it would make.” Henry says, “Yeah, but you’ve got to get that kiss though.” I really loved that. Also, there’s a scene where Emma [Cleo Frasher], Mark’s younger sister, sits him down and tells him what life is. That scene was fantastic.

Kathryn: I love Margaret’s line, “I don’t want to seize the day. I just don’t want the day to seize me.” That can be seen like she’s saying, “I don’t want to get destroyed by the day,” but I think what she’s saying is, “I want to control my day. I don’t want the day to tell me who I am; I want to tell the day who I am,” which I think I’m trying to do all the time.

PC: The two of you have fantastic chemistry on screen. What’s one fun fact about your costar that fans would be surprised to learn?
Kathryn: He has one outfit. [laughs]

Kyle: [laughs] I have like four things in my closet.

Kathryn: A fun fact is that we actually met at the Golden Globes…I think it was back in 2017. We were the only two people who were close in age. We brought the party down. We were dancing the night away. Then, I never saw him again. [laughs]

Kyle: Until this project. That’s true.

Kathryn: On the day of the audition, Kyle had his sides. He wrote down all his lines, like he wrote them all down. I was like, “Yeah, this guy’s good.”

Kyle: I like writing them out by hand because in my head, they’re someone else’s words. If I write them down, I get to tell myself that they’re mine.

Kathryn: Oh, Kyle will also, without warning, pick me up and spin me around like I’m a flag. It’s very fun for me.

Kyle: Kathryn brings her house with her wherever she goes. [laughs] I’ll go on set, and I’ll bring a bag. I have a little bag that has my iPad, some pens, and a pad of paper. Kathryn will bring, like, twelve bags. She’s got a blender. She’s got a coffee machine. She’s got like three outfits.

Kathryn: Don’t forget my pillow.

Kyle: She’s got bedding. She brings a queen-size bed. She brings six dogs. I’m exaggerating, but the first parts were true. That’s something people don’t know about her. Also, she’ll have, like, three drinks.

Kathryn: [laughs] Always.

Kyle: She’s the most hydrated person I know.

Kathryn: I’m hydrated, and I’ve got snacks.

Kyle: She kept me fed because I’ll forget to eat.

PC: With the film out now, what do you hope audiences take away?
Kyle: A warm hug. That’s what Kathryn said earlier; she said the film feels like a warm hug. I was like, “I would love to hug everyone warmly.” That’s such a beautiful thing to do via this film. That’s what we do. We’re actors. We’re storytellers. We want to put people in a world where they can forget their troubles and they can experience something beautiful. That’s what our film is.

Kathryn: I hope that people take away that life is what you make it, and your future is going to be better than you could’ve imagined, so create it right now and fall in love.

Make sure to follow Kathryn (Twitter/Instagram) and Kyle (Twitter/Instagram). Stream The Map of Tiny Perfect things today.