THE MAP THAT LEADS TO YOU Stars Madelyn Cline and KJ Apa Cover COSMOPOLITAN Magazine

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Madelyn Cline and KJ Apa will make you fall in love with them. Each rose to fame on the waves of teenage TV catnip, with Madelyn on Netflix’s hit OUTER BANKS and KJ on the seven-season CW show RIVERDALE. Despite their paths—and palpable chemistry—not properly converging until working on their upcoming film, THE MAP THAT LEADS TO YOU, the two have forged a deep friendship full of playful fighting, flirting, and finishing each other’s sentences. In COSMOPOLITAN’s latest digital cover story, the two dive into knowing each other in a past life, finding love in grocery stores, and the perks of the friends-to-lovers pipeline.

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Madelyn on her relationship with KJ: “I always know that whenever KJ and I are going to be doing something together, it’s going to be an absolute mess and a really good time. We’re like Mr. and Mrs. Smith—if it was mixed with Dumb and Dumber.”

KJ on working with Madelyn: “With Madelyn, I felt like we’d known each other for a while. Everything was just easy. I wish it was like that working with most actresses.”

Madelyn on what she would do with time off from filming: “If I had a month off and I could somehow make work happen, I would do that. Or I would stay home and sleep. I love sleep. I love being in my enclosure. I find it to be so much fun being nonverbal.”

 Madelyn on whether a rom-com meet-cute can happen given the state of the internet: “I think yes, but for me, it usually happens through work or mutuals.”

 KJ on whether he has had any rom-com meet-cutes in his own life: “Honestly, cool things still happen to me in real life sometimes. I was flying back from Paris and the flight attendant gave me her number on a napkin. I loved that.”

KJ on flirting at the grocery store: “I find that the grocery store is another great way to meet people. People aren’t really on their phones much, so it’s an easy way to have conversations….For me too, I can just ask my son to go talk to a girl for me. I say, ‘Go tell that girl I love her.’ My son is so unashamed. He’ll just go do whatever I tell him to do….A lot of the time, he goes up to the wrong woman.”

Madelyn on how KJ operates: “KJ operates solely on feeling. He leads with how something makes him feel, and if it doesn’t make him feel a certain way, he’s on to something else.”

Madelyn on how she operates: “I can be spontaneous and instinctual, but I’m also a workaholic.”

KJ on why he enjoyed working with Madelyn: “She has such a lightness about her that makes coming to work so enjoyable, because you smile every time you look at her. I’m moody, but I can’t not be in a good mood around her—it’s infectious. It’s really a blessing for me to be with people like her. It makes my job easier, it makes my life easier, and it makes my life more enjoyable.”

Madelyn on working with KJ: “KJ is an open book. I really felt like we were a team on this one. He was my partner, and we were fully in it together.”

Madelyn on onscreen chemistry: “I think onscreen chemistry is really hard to replicate if it doesn’t naturally exist. I mean, you can do what you can, but there’s nothing quite like it.”

KJ on whether he is similar to his character, Jack: “I’m similar in that my relationship with my higher power is very strong, and I rely on it every day. I always turn back to, Okay, I’m not in control. Whatever’s happening to me is happening to me for a reason bigger than I’ll ever understand.

 “In taking on this movie, I was coming out of a really, really dark point in my life, and the script was one of those scripts that kept following me around. I knew I had so much to learn from that character, especially where I was in my life in terms of control and acceptance at a time when I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore. I have to put my hands up and ask God to help me.’ I knew that this character could help me. That’s just how God works in my life. I do think my character is more resilient than I am for sure.”

KJ on why he was nervous taking on his role in The Map That Leads to You: “I was nervous about this because I hadn’t acted in a really long time and I hadn’t worked since Riverdale. I was just coming out of a really difficult time, so I was like, Sh*t, do I still have it? But I did it. Something that I try to combat every day is this idea of self-worth. I think in our industry, as artists and as people who want to make a name for ourselves, a lot of self-worth is pulled from recognition of creation. You want to be recognized for what you’ve created, and you want people to see you.”

KJ on whether portraying romance onscreen allows him to be more optimistic about his real-life bonds: “You know what? That’s why I love what I do, because I get to live it. I get to experience it through someone else and so it is my reality at some point. I’m not going to lie, I fell in love with Madelyn on this movie in many ways that, one, are part of my job, and two, happened because she’s an amazing person. You lean into it because it’s f*cking fun, and it’s life, and I like feeling great.”

Madelyn on learning and growing from each of her projects: “Actually, this was a conversation KJ and I had pretty early on, about our own belief systems and how they tie into our characters. I want every project I do to be illuminating. It should feel like it’s holding up a mirror to you, because then I get to learn and experience things outside of my life as Madelyn. Each filming experience is so wonderful and beautiful and holds its own memories. How lucky are we to be able to live these tiny little forevers?”

KJ on being able to use his own accent in The Map That Leads to You: “Playing Jack is the first time I’m using my natural accent, the first time in 10 years I’ve been able to live in the moment with another actor without feeling like I have a separation between me and the character with my voice, which is huge for me.”

KJ on what he learned about himself from his character, Jack: “I know that no matter what happens, everything’s going to be okay. If I believe that, then I’m not allowed to stress. I’m not allowed to worry. It actually takes such a load off me. That’s what Jack taught me.”

Madelyn on what she learned from her character, Heather: “I have this thing where I love spontaneity, but sometimes I catch myself trying to control outcomes of a situation, outcomes of a feeling, or what I think I should be feeling. Heather taught me how to completely give permission.”

[Photo Credit: Soraya Zaman for Cosmopolitan Magazine]

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