Sydney Sweeney and Anyone But You Costar Glen Powell on Romance Rumors: 'We Sold a Rom-Com' (Exclusive)

If romantic comedies live or die by the chemistry between their stars, Anyone But You may prove to be immortal. 

The connection between Sydney Sweeney, 26, and Glen Powell, 35, was immediately apparent to anyone with a pulse after photos of the pair filming scenes in Australia went viral earlier this year, sparking rumors that they were an item. 

Spoiler alert: They’re just friends. Sweeney is engaged to businessman Jonathan Davino, and Powell is single. 

But all the attention helped drive focus to the film. “I mean, we sold a rom-com,” Sweeney says in the new issue of PEOPLE. “We were just filming a fun, amazing movie.”

The Euphoria Emmy nominee, who’s also an executive producer on Anyone But You, plays Bea, a Boston University law school student who has a meet-cute at a coffee shop with charming but cocky finance bro Ben (Powell). 

After their first (and only) date goes south, they later find themselves headed to the same destination wedding Down Under. 

To prevent their well-intentioned loved ones (including Bea’s parents, played by Dermot Mulroney and Rachel Griffiths) from meddling in their personal lives, Ben and Bea decide to put on a show-mance and pretend to be a couple for the getaway. 

For more on Powell and Sweeney, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

Sweeney cast Powell in the film after he presented her with the trophy for Best Fight at the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards. (She won for a Euphoria brawl.)

“I hand her the Golden Popcorn,” recalls Powell. 

“I’m like, “Wow, that’s the best handover,” teases Sweeney in response.

“I’m the best presenter she’s ever seen by far. If you need me to give anybody Popcorn-handing lessons, it’s one of my stronger suits,” Powell jokes. “We had chemistry right off the bat. It was amazing — and so much so that she decided to give me a role in this movie.”

Not long after they started filming, however, speculation arose that the on-screen couple were a couple in real life too. What was it like navigating that?

“Sydney has been ... an Internet sensation for a while,” explains Powell. “This is my first leap into that. Any time you’re near Sydney, I realize you get the full force of her fame. But look, the best part about it is we truly love each other, and we respect each other. We had the greatest time making this thing.”

Sweeney chalks up the talk to their natural connection. “I think people saw just how much fun we actually were having,” she says.

Sweeney told Variety earlier this year that she and Powell don’t mind the chatter. “It’s a rom-com! That’s what people want! Glen and I don’t really care. We have so much fun together, and we respect each other so much; he’s such a hard worker, and I’m a hard worker."

“They want it,” Sweeney said of fans’ reaction to the rumors. “It’s fun to give it to ’em.”

Anyone But You is in theaters Dec. 22.