How ‘The Last Summer’ Director William Bindley Put Together His Trendy Young Cast

As long as there are young people trying to find their place in the world, there will always be an appetite for coming-of-age films. William Bindley, director and co-writer of Netflix’s latest teen film, The Last Summer, knows this.

“Filmmakers are really drawn to this time period,” Bindley told Decider in a phone call last week. “For me, high school was when everything starts to change—everyone was going into the workforce or college or military.”

Bindley—who wrote the film with his brother, Scott—also knew that to appeal to that high school audience, the right cast was crucial. After months of searching, he found his perfect lead in 21-year-old Riverdale star K.J. Apa. Apa stars as Griffin, a Chicago teen figuring out his life in the last summer before he heads off to start college at Columbia. He falls in love with a girl named Phoebe (Maia Mitchell), who’s about to head off to NYU and wants to prioritize her filmmaking career over her dating life. Then there’s also Erin (Halston Sage), the popular pretty girl; Ricky Santos (Tyler Posey), the rookie Cubs player she dates; Audrey (Sosie Bacon), the down-to-earth girl-next-door; Foster (Wolfgang Novogratz), the self-proclaimed but secretly self-doubting womanizer; Chad (Jacob McCarthy), the nerd who hooks up with an older woman; and, if you can believe it, more.

“I loved the idea of doing an ensemble where we would have the chance to tell a number of stories,” Bindley said. Decider chatted with the director about writing the film, finding his perfect cast and his theory on K.J. Apa’s American accent.

DECIDER: What inspired you to make this film?

WILLIAM BINDLEY: I’ve always wanted to make a film that deals with the coming-of-age time period. For me, that summer after high school and before college was when I started thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. The relationships I developed in high school were starting to change. It’s the first time young people kind of break away from their parents and families and bond with non-relatives—you find people with like interests, maybe fall in love for the first time.

I grew up on the John Hughes movies and Cameron Crowe’s work, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Dazed and Confused and even going back to American Graffiti—filmmakers are really drawn to that time period and I loved the idea of doing an ensemble where we would have the chance to tell a number of stories.

Tell me about casting K.J. Apa in the lead role—obviously, he has a big fanbase right now, with Riverdale.

We actually wrote the script several years ago, and it was always a challenge to cast the film. [It was hard to find] a young actor who was meaningful enough to get a distributor interested in the film. A lot of these young people are older than they are playing, so once they hit a certain [age], they have less of an interest in playing young. It was a process of trying to find the right actor at the right time. We were lucky that KJ responded to the script. He likes romantic comedies and wanted to find a script where his character has dramatic moments and comedy. So he signed on, and that was really the start of everything.

What’s something about K.J. Apa that his fans might not know?

He stole his American accent from Matt Damon! I kept saying to him that he sounds like someone when he does an American accent, and then he went on a spiel from Good Will Hunting. I was like “OK, I see how he does that.” He’s very mature for his age—he turned 21 while we were shooting. He’s a total pro, having done so much TV in New Zealand.

How did the rest of the cast come together?

I’d known Halston Sage for years, she was interested in the project long ago and stuck with it.  My daughter, Grace, was a big fan of The Fosters and said, “You should really look at Maia Mitchell.” She’s from Australia, and [Apa’s] from New Zealand, so we had a few jokes about that. They came two days early to run through scenes and immediately they were bantering!

And we’re introduced to Tyler Posey’s character, a professional baseball player, when he literally falls into Halston Sage’s lap at a Cub’s game. Tell me about shooting that scene at Wrigley Field.

It was a tricky scene to film—obviously, it’s a stunt. Tyler is athletic, so we worked through his move on that. We only had one day and quite a bit to do and film. It was, alternatively, one of the most exciting days of filming for me, being on the field at Wrigley and running the bases. I went to college in Chicago and spent several afternoons at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were incredibly helpful—the President of the Cubs is a friend, so we were treated well. I will never forget that because it was the last day of shooting and we got so lucky on weather.  It was blue skies, the field looked terrific—a perfect day. And I think no one had filmed a major feature there since The Break-Up, that Vince Vaughn movie. It was just an unbelievable highlight.

How are you feeling about the release?

I’m really excited about it. I’m really happy with the film. I couldn’t be more thrilled with the cast. It was a real process to pick and choose along the way, and everyone really fell into the characters they were meant to play. I was really blessed.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Stream The Last Summer on Netflix