Don’t even ask Maia Reficco about Plan B, because that was never an option. She’s been too busy making Plan A a reality.

That’s partly because she “came out of the womb singing,” the 26-year-old actress quips during a recent chat with The Hollywood Reporter. “I just have literally never shut up. I’ve always sung since the second I was born. And my first word was my godfather’s name, who is a piano player, and he taught me how to play the piano.”

After moving from the U.S. to Argentina as a child, it was only a matter of time before Reficco figured out how to turn her dreams of singing and acting into a tangible career. She eventually got her start as a teen on the Nickelodeon Latin America series Kally’s Mashup, but it was her breakout role as Noa Olivar in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin that launched her to new heights.

“I’ll forever be so grateful for that because it opened the doors for me to essentially have a career here in the U.S. and in a space where I never thought I’d be able to break through,” she says of the spinoff that ran for two seasons, from 2022-2024.

Reficco jokes that her Pretty Little Liars experience was “a bit like acting bootcamp,” which only prepared her for what’s to come — her first starring role in a romance film.

She’s playing Ry in the Prime Video adaptation of author Anna Todd’s bestseller The Last Sunrise, which releases on Aug. 26. The script really had Reficco “kicking my feet, giggling,” she admits, but the whole experience also touched on something much deeper for the actress.

“There was something about being so connected to the femininity within this role and within this story that made me feel good about myself,” she says of the coming-of-age romance. “And that helped me overcome a lot of my preconceived notions of how I would feel in a movie where it explicitly in the script requires me to be hot or stuff like that.”

Though Reficco has been having an onscreen moment the last few years, she’s never forgotten the “reason I was brought into the world,” which was music, she says. It took her some time, but she’s finally ready to let the world into her vulnerable side with the release of her new music, including her single “Amapola.”

“I’m terrified for people to know so much about my vulnerabilities because I’ve always been a very private person,” she tells THR. “That being said, it’s the music I love. And so I’m going to release it into the world and hopefully people can connect with it.”

Below, Reficco gets candid about her favorite moments from filming The Last Sunrise, the truth behind awkward chemistry reads, if she’s open to reprising her character Ry, what fans can expect from her new music and more.

With The Last Sunrise, how much did you lean into the script vs. the book material when developing your character Ry?

With book adaptations, it’s always such a fine line between honoring the pages and wanting to bring that character that’s so beloved by anyone who’s read the book to life, but at the same time creating something of our own with the team that we made the film with. So I definitely think it helped having Carly Thomas Anna Todd as a producer, because she obviously informed the decisions that we were making alongside Carlson Young, our director. And me as an actor, between all of us and having the source material and at the same time having our script, I think that’s where all the intersection happened of trying to find where we would honor the page heavily and where we would try and find room to play and create this new version of Ry. But it’s always such a fun challenge.

Do you have a favorite moment on set while you were filming?  

I think it was maybe the top two shoots of my life. It really was very special. Fernando [Lindez] and I became really close through getting to explore the island [of Mallorca], so definitely going to hidden beaches all over with him. And we went out a lot. We went out and had fun.

I would say a favorite memory of mine is actually on the first Sunday that Fernando and I … we met for the camera read, but then when he got to New York, I was there already. And it took us a couple of days to actually get along, funny enough. We weren’t really vibing. And then on a Saturday, we went to this party together and we were like, “Yo, you rock. No, you rock.” And from then on, we became best friends. And the next day we hung out, had lunch and went to this random beach that was an hour away, and we did this whole ordeal. And I think that’s what really bonded us.

Did you and Lindez have a chemistry read prior to being cast and shooting?

I flew to Madrid a month out of shooting to read with a bunch of guys. And it was so funny because chem reads are always goofy. And I’d not done one in person in a while. … It was goofy because it was all these kissing scenes and stuff. And it was a parade of all these attractive men being all Spanish, big and er. I was just like, “What’s going on?” (Laughs.)

Anna Todd is also looking to turn the book into a trilogy, so if Prime Video decides to adapt those, would you be open to reprising your character? 

I have been trying to put pressure on Prime [Video] every interview I do. I’m like, “Let’s make the second one. Come on, let’s get to it.” I really would love to make a second one. We had so much fun during the first one. I would love to go back to New York. I would love to go back to shooting with Eva [Longoria] and with [Fernando]. I think it was all around pretty perfect as an experience.

Looking back, what did you take away from your experience on Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and joining a spinoff of such a beloved show?

Pretty Little Liars was life-changing for me. I loved that show and I loved making it, and I’m forever grateful to Lindsay [Calhoon Bring] and Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa], our showrunners, for giving me that opportunity. It was my first big job in the U.S. …. And I’ll forever be so grateful for that because it opened the doors for me to essentially have a career here in the U.S. and in a space where I never thought I’d be able to break through.

That being said, I was able to meet some of my favorite people in the world, truly the girls I absolutely adore, and I feel so lucky to still be friends with all of them. … I just feel really lucky that I was able to do something I loved and to be part of such a beloved IP. I loved Pretty Little Liars. Lucy Hale was one of the first girls I ever had a crush on. And I was like, wait, maybe I’m a little gayyyy (Laughs). …. It was super campy. It was so silly. And it was a bit like acting bootcamp.

Having been born in the U.S. but growing up in Argentina, how do you feel that shaped the person who’ve grown into today who’s continuing to expand in their career?

Everything that I am is incredibly intertwined with the fact that I am a woman and the fact that I’m Argentine. So everything I am and do and feel and say and create is always going to be completely informed by these two things. … That being said, when I act and when I choose what stories to tell, it’s always from this perspective of my lived experience. So whether it is a PLL where I really fought for certain things about Noa’s identity or whether it’s a Hadestown where I asked if I could speak in Spanish and they were so eager about it. And I was speaking in Spanish in my favorite show on Broadway.

I always feel really proud to say where I am from and to drink my mate [an Argentine drink] every day and to loudly say that I’m Argentine, because I know I come from a country that, while it’s a third-world country and we have our struggles, we are so kind and we are incredibly welcoming.

You’re also going to be releasing new music, including your new single “Amapola.” How did you know now felt like the right time to return to music?

Hand on my heart, I think the reason I was brought into the world is to sing. There’s nothing I love more and nothing makes me feel more aligned with who I am as a person. And there’s been a wide plethora of reasons why I’ve not poured myself entirely into music yet. Some of them stemming from an identity crisis, to be completely frank, and others from logistical, practical, professional things that made it a little complicated to move forward. But that being said, I do think the timing of it is perfect, and I do believe in everything happens for a reason. And I definitely think this had to happen in the moment that it’s happening because I needed to grow a lot in order to finally face something I care about so deeply.

So now having my first song out, “Amapola,” being a song I love so dearly and being fun and not being too in my head and not being pretentious and trying to fall into the love I have for music alongside a visual world that I worked really hard to curate, I feel really lucky to be able to finally do this.

What’s something you absolutely cannot live without?

My mate and my nebulizer. Literally these two. If you’re a singer, get yourself a portable nebulizer. It’s great. And my mate is [because] I’m Argentine. All I do is drink that (Laughs).

What might be surprising that fans don’t know about you?

I speak Italian. My favorite thing in the world is [Argentine soccer player Lionel] Messi and I’m really proud to be Argentine. I would say that my brother is my favorite person in the world and the best artist I know. The coolest thing about me is my brother (Laughs).

Rising filmmaker Niki Byrne has signed with Underground Management.

The move comes as Byrne prepares for the Toronto International Film Festival bow of The Julia Set, which stars One Battle After Another breakout Chase Infiniti, along with Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson.

The feature, a coming of age drama set in the world of competitive mathematics and academia, is generating interest from potential buyers, though it is not expected to be screened for them until the fest. Byrne also is putting together her next film, which she wrote and is being kept under wraps.

Byrne is a California native who attended Boston University, studying history and political science, as well as astrophysics. While writing spec scripts to get her filmmaking career off the ground, she held various jobs, including a communications role at 20th Century Fox before the Disney acquisition in 2019.

Now, she finds herself at a career turning point, with one of the more intriguing sales titles going into TIFF.

A year ago, the fest helped launch fellow Underground client Curry Barker, whose Obsession was acquired by Focus and later became a box office juggernaut.

The Julia Set is produced by Midsommar‘s Jeffrey Penman, The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Maze Runner‘s Lee Stollman. Also producing are Anderson, Nick Scherma, Tayler Haynes, Andrey Epifanov and Eleonora Granata-Jenkinson.

In addition to Underground’s Aaron Folbe, Byrne continues to be repped by attorneys Hirsch Wallerstein.

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Showalter is set to direct a modern retelling of cult-classic romantic comedy Serendipity for Amazon MGM Studios and Miramax, Deadline has learned.

Script is by Marc Klein, who wrote the original film, with casting underway.

The film will be produced by Showalter and Jordana Mollick for Semi-Formal Productions, alongside Simon Fields, who produced the original. Jonathan Glickman, Alexandra Loewy, and Thom Zadra will exec produce for Miramax, alongside Klein.

Emily Crook is overseeing the project for Semi-Formal, which is under a multi-year, first-look film deal with Amazon MGM, while Arianna D’Andrea will oversee for Miramax.

Directed by Peter Chelsom and starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, 2001’s Serendipity centers on a couple of strangers who fall for each other one Christmas night in New York, despite being engaged to other people. Separating, their potential future together is left unresolved — until, seven years later, each begins searching for the other.

Miramax released the film to major success — a worldwide gross exceeding $77 million — at a much different moment for the rom-com. Peter Abrams, Robert L. Levy and Simon Fields produced. No word yet on whether the new take will be for theaters or streaming.

In a statement on his Serendipity, Showalter said, “I am so honored and excited to get to live inside this iconic funny, romantic and intelligent world that Marc Klein has created. This new Serendipity is not a remake or even a reboot, I’d say it’s more of a rebuttal. Same title. New characters. New story and new ideas about love and relationships. Me and Jordana and everyone at Semi-Formal relish the opportunity to make another film with the whole team at Amazon MGM as well as our new partners at Miramax.”

Clearly, Showalter has major affection for the romantic comedy, in general. In the last decade, he’s dedicated significant focus to the genre, to strong results: Most recently, there was The Idea of You, starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine — an adaptation of the novel by Robinne Lee, which a couple of years ago secured Prime Video’s top rom-com debut of all time. Prior to that, he helmed the critically acclaimed Spoiler Alert, based on the memoir by Michael Ausiello, along with Netflix’s The Lovebirds, the Oscar-nominated The Big Sick and the SXSW prize-winner Hello, My Name Is Doris.

On the heels of the Amazon MGM Christmas comedy Oh. What. Fun., Showalter has most recently reunited with the studio to tackle Verity, an adaptation of the thriller novel by Colleen Hoover, which releases in theaters on October 2nd. Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett star in that one.

Showalter is repped by UTA, Artists First and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman; Klein by 3 Arts, UTA and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.