Heart Eyes Stars Share Their Bad Date Horror Stories

TooFab sat down with Mason Gooding, Olivia Holt, Jordana Brewster, Devon Sawa and Gigi Zumbado ahead of the new slasher, which mashes up the hallmarks we’ve all come to expect from romcoms and the blood and guts of a horror movie.

And when asked to share their date night horror stories, Gooding was quick to respond.

“I’ve been on dates in which I’m very excited to be present and then they don’t show up. Which is totally fine,” he said, as Zumbado expressed shock that he had ever been “stood up.”

“Many times,” he continued. “But on the bright side, I love to enjoy the moment. So I’ll continue with the date and just date myself. And it’s as sad as it sounds. I hope it never happens again.”

Though Gooding’s tale broke Zumbado’s heart, Holt’s story of getting stood up — by her own boyfriend — might have one-upped him.

“I know on Valentine’s Day, ages ago, I was getting ready to go to a school dance with the guy I was dating,” she explained. “But before he asked me out to be his girlfriend, he had already asked another girl to go to the dance with him. So sad. He went with the other girl and we were dating.”

“That’s devious!” exclaimed Gooding, who said his costar deserves “better than that” from a man. “Let’s find him!” he then quipped.

For Brewster, she said first dates can always be tricky.

“I’m not good at small talk and I’m not good at like nicely getting out of things,” she shared. “So I think I’d just be too blunt, like, ‘Okay, I gotta go now,’ and just exiting and having it just be strange.”

Sawa, meanwhile, “didn’t go on a lot of dates” in his life because he “didn’t drive until I was 28” — something even he admits is “weird, right?”

Heart Eyes hits theaters on February 7, the week before Valentine’s Day — and, thanks to its holiday-centric storyline, aims to become a movie one fans can rewatch annually.

“I love that Heart Eyes exists now, because as potentially egotistical it would be to throw in a movie that I’m in for Valentine’s Day, I feel like this handling of tone and delivery is exactly what I want on a Valentine’s date setting,” said Gooding.

He added, “I’m just gonna hope we can overlook the fact that I’m putting on my own work to enjoy the holiday.”

Zumbado’s go-to for the romantic holiday is something a little more traditional, telling TooFab she and her sisters start the morning every year watching Garry Marshall’s Valentine’s Day.

“It makes me love living in LA on Valentine’s Day. It makes me want to have a great day, whether you’re single, dating, whatever, that is my Valentine’s Day,” she shared — before Holt said she is a fan of both romcoms and horror movies, suggesting a possible double feature.

“Or just watch Heart Eyes!” added Zumbado.

For Sawa, he’s “always watching horror” and said he’s looking forward to watching the new 4K version of Se7en that’s coming out. “That’s probably what I’m gonna do, something like that,” he added, before giving his very best, “What’s in the box?!” impression.

Check out the videos above to see Brewster and Sawa look back at their time in ’90s and 2000s horror movies like The Faculty and Final Destination — and the hilarious disagreement that came up when Gooding, Holt and Zubmado were asked to name their favorite slasher!

Heart Eyes hits theaters February 7.