Comedian Esther Povitsky credits Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift for serving up some serious inspiration for her new film, Drugstore June.
In an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Povitsky, 35, dished on looking to her favorite “female pop girlies” while portraying June, an aspiring social media star who can’t get over her ex-boyfriend. “I’m constantly inspired by the women in our culture,” she explained. “In particular, a really big inspiration for me, creatively, is Lana Del Rey and her music. I find her to have that desperate, sad girl poetry that I really relate to.”
In the comedy — which also stars Beverly D’Angelo, Bobby Lee and Bill Burr — June does her best to win back her ex (Haley Joel Osment) after he moves on with a new woman (Miranda Cosgrove) while also trying to find out who is behind a robbery at the pharmacy where she works.
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“I remember when [Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd] came out, as part of the promo, she had [only one] billboard [put] up in her ex’s hometown,” Povitsky continued of Del Rey, 38. “I sent that to all the producers of our movie. I was like, ‘You guys, like, I am not the only crazy person!’”
Del Rey posted a photo of said billboard via Instagram in December 2022 and captioned it, “There’s only one and it’s in Tulsa.“ She added a skeleton face emoji, seemingly regarding ex-boyfriend and former Tulsa police officer Sean “Sticks” Larkin, who appeared on Live PD.
Swift’s music also helped get Povitsky’s creative juices flowing. “The song ‘Anti-Hero’ I listened to probably every single day and night when I drove to the set and drove home,” the Alone Together alum told Us. “That song really inspired me because June is an anti-hero.”
The titular character’s one-sided love story that unfolds in Drugstore June isn’t exactly far-fetched. “The movie was basically based [on] this obsession that I had with my high school ex-boyfriend that for a literal decade I could not shake,” Povitsky shared. “I used to be really ashamed and really embarrassed, [but] then I found through my comedy and podcasting career, the more I spoke about it, the more people really related to me.”
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Povitsky — who admitted it’s “scary” to consider her unnamed ex discovering that he inspired the film — thinks Drugstore June will resonate with a generation of hopeless romantics. “I don’t think I’ve ever made eye contact with a guy and not been obsessed with him,” she added. “I think there’s just some of us lover girls out there who get a little delusional — we love to be delulu.”
Filming the star-studded comedy, which Povitsky also cowrote and produced, proved to be a fulfilling experience. “The people who said yes to be in this film were people who understood my sense of humor, my sensibility, and it really showed because we had so much fun,” the “My Pleasure” podcast host told Us. “It really had that fun camp vibe.”
Drugstore June is now in theaters.
