It’s officially over! Joey King and Joel Courtney are finally saying goodbye to The Kissing Booth franchise.
“It’s emotional. It’s happy. It’s sad,” Joey, 22, tells J-14 exclusively while promoting The Kissing Booth 3. “I’ve had an incredible journey with these films. I’ve gone through so much while making them. It’s a little surreal that it’s over, and it does bring up a lot of emotions.”
The Ramona and Beezus alum continues, “When we wrapped, it was so sad. But also, we all had so much fun. I remember that, that last day it was kind of crazy … sitting there and being like, ‘All right, this is the last scene as Elle.'”
Joel, for his part, agrees with his costar and real-life best friend.
“It’s been tough saying goodbye to Lee. Such a huge part of my life for the last five years has been The Kissing Booth. I thought I was saying goodbye to him in 2018 when we were done filming. Then, we got trilogy,” the actor shares. “Now, saying goodbye again … this is for real, this is goodbye. I have such a bittersweet idea about it because it’s just been one of the greatest blessings in my career.”
When it came to actually stepping off set on the final day of filming, Joey and Joel didn’t exactly do anything to put the fan-favorite characters to rest, but The Act star did take home “some” of Elle’s clothes.
“My favorite pair of shorts of all time are Elle’s shorts. I’ve never had a pair of shorts fit me better. So, those are great,” Joey says, noting that she “sat with the entire cast and crew” before eating “an entire box of shortbread Walkers cookies.”
The final film ends with a flash-forward six years into the future, showing viewers that Elle and Lee’s lives are like following the events of all three films. While bidding farewell to the characters, both Netflix stars said they were surprised by Elle and Lee’s endings.
“I think it’s right. I think it’s what Lee has in his life. That relationship with Rachel (Meganne Young) is such a huge deal for him,” Joel gushes. “That’s the right ending. I think that relationship comes to fruition. It’s the hopeless romantics’ perfect ending.”
As for Joey, the actress said she was “proud” of Elle’s final decision but happy the ending left her future “up for a lot of interpretation.”
“That’s the best part about the ending, is that I don’t know,” she explains. “I just hope that wherever she is, she’s happy and that her and Lee are still being BFFs, which I know they are.”
The Kissing Booth 3 is now streaming on Netflix.
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