‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’: Nathalie Emmanuel and Nikesh Patel Reveal the Secret Meaning Behind Those Episode 1 Costumes

Hulu’s new limited series, Four Weddings and a Funeral, is an over-the-top love letter to the romantic comedy genre. The series doesn’t just borrow its name from the 1994 Richard Curtis classic, it also features numerous homages to other classics like Love, Actually and even the Hounslow environs of Bend It Like Beckham. The series goes so hard in its love for rom-coms that it even features a costume party in its first episode where the characters dress as their favorite characters from the genre. One twist no one saw coming? The leading man and lady of the Four Weddings and a Funeral cast were dressed as their IRL favorite rom-com characters.

As envisioned by Mindy Kaling and her long-time collaborator Matt Warburton, the new Four Weddings and a Funeral focuses on a diverse group of friends living in present-day London. At the core of this clique are four American college pals: Maya (Nathalie Emmanuel), Ainsley (Rebecca Rittenhouse), Duffy (John Reynolds), and Craig (Brandon Mychal Smith). In Four Weddings and a Funeral Episode 1, the New York-based Maya flies to London to reunite with her pals and fete best friend Ainsley with a costumed birthday party. We see haughty Londoner Gemma (Zoe Boyle) dressed as Rachel Chu from Crazy Rich Asians, Craig donning full Eddie Murphy-in-Coming to America regalia, and lovelorn Duffy as Lloyd Dobbler. However, it was star-crossed lovers Kash (Nikesh Patel) and Maya’s costumes that held secret meaning for the stars: the producers dressed Patel and Emmanuel up in their personal favorite romantic comedy characters…without realizing it.

When Decider sat down with Patel and Emmanuel during Summer TCA, talk naturally migrated to the topic of romantic comedies. When we asked the stars of Four Weddings and a Funeral if they had any favorites from the genre, Emmanuel first offered up the modern classic Legally Blonde.

“It’s so funny and Reese Witherspoon is just so good in it,” Emmanuel said. “I love it when people have low expectations of you and you smash them out of the park and you’re like, ‘I’m going to be a lawyer, even though you think I’m stupid. And I’m still going to be fabulous while I’m doing it.’ I love that one.”

Patel then admitted, “Mine is The Princess Bride, so getting to wear the Westley costume in the show was pretty trippy.”

Emmanuel also revealed that her costume was also from one of her favorites. “Well it’s not a comedy, but Love & Basketball, which was my costume.” Emmanuel said, “I had it on DVD because I watched it so much that it broke.”

Both Patel and Emmanuel admitted they didn’t know ahead of time what their costumes would be, and that it was a shock to them as well. Nathalie Emmanuel also admitted that when Four Weddings and a Funeral wrapped, she bought the Love & Basketball costume for herself. “So I have my Halloween costume for forever,” she said.

Patel said, “I don’t have my Westley costume, although I’m now thinking I messed up. That film is so brilliant because it does such a Trojan Horse thing in a lot of ways because it presents itself as this silly, fancy adventure, but those two performances…they’re so good that you kind of despite yourself, you’re like, oh I really need these two to find their happiness. I think it’s perfect.”

The first four episodes of Four Weddings and a Funeral are now available to stream on Hulu. You’ll have to keep watching over the coming weeks to see if Patel’s Kash and Emmanuel’s Maya find their own perfect happiness.

Watch Four Weddings and a Funeral on Hulu