KJ Apa‘s character in Falling struggles to say goodbye to his single era — as his best friend quietly falls in love with his girlfriend.
In Us‘ exclusive look at the film, which premieres Friday, October 9, Jack (Apa) confides in Johnny (Archie Renaux), saying, “I turned off my dating app. Tinder, Bumble — even Raya. … I’m firmly against personal growth. But the strange thing is, all the brain energy I suddenly have [now that I am taken], oh, what do I do now?”
He continues: “I’m not focusing on girls. Plus, what do we talk about? I had no crazy adventures last night. You’re in some kind of faux celibacy, about-to-be-a-dad thing, which is boring. And I can’t be like, ‘Hey, me and Jillian did this wild sex thing last night.’ because she’s my girlfriend and that would be weird talking about it.”
Jack admits to struggling with his new normal.
“I spent a lot of years getting good at being single,” he adds before Johnny expresses his own frustrations, saying, “I’m getting a little freaked out about it. I’m gonna be a dad and I work in a bookshop.”
Falling follows Jack, who is caught in a love triangle when he is smitten over Jillian (Isabel May), unaware that his best friend Johnny also has feelings for her. In addition to the main cast, Emma Laird, Alex Jarrett, Nick Hendrix and Sophie Simnett round out the rom-com.
Apa, 29, previously reflected on how he chooses projects after rising to stardom on Riverdale.
“So after Riverdale, I got to re-enter this world of making movies and playing characters that are closer to who I am. So that was awesome!” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2025. “It also reminded me of how different Riverdale was. It was so different.”
He added: “Working on that show, we were in another whole universe, and it didn’t actually ever feel like I was gonna get out of it. I couldn’t imagine a world where I would ever not be on that show, so to fast-forward being in the middle of Riverdale to know that I was gonna shoot something like [these movies], I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it.”
The actor teased what was coming up next for him.
“I want to do it all. I really think that a lot of those things choose you, you know. I’d love to work in comedy more. I don’t think I’ve had the opportunity to really show that side of myself,” he shared at the time. “But I wanna be a part of projects that inspire people. That’s always been my goal. As I’ve gotten older and had a kid and stuff, I think I wanna be a force of good. I wanna tell stories that make people feel good. I want to leave people with things that make people feel good.”
Falling is out in theaters on October 9.
