Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler are Romeo and Juliet | Plus Vogue Gets Spooky!

0:28This is The Run Through. I'm Quilay Mao. I'm the fashion news editor at Vogue Runway. I was Charlie XCX for Halloween because why not?

0:41My friends have been teasing me that I have the same hair based on like the girl's so confusing lyric with Lorde. And even though I'm more of a Lorde, I was like, you know what? Why not? Let's lean in. It also all happened because I interviewed Charlie and Troy's stylists about the sweat tour. So Chris Horne, who styles Charlie, I was just like, girl, what should I do if I want to be Charlie for Halloween. And he gave me some good tips. And I realized that I had everything I needed to be Charlie in my closet. And the rest is history. All the gays at my party were living.

1:14I was sexy mudang this year. She's quickly become an internet sensation. I have just been really obsessed with this Thai pygmy hippo ever since she hit the scene. To see the curvy it girl. I actually shopped for everything I wore at Thick Thrift. My friends like fat, vintage and handmade market. And I got a vintage like Italian fabric silver skirt that I thought was perfect because it's a little shiny and Mudang is always wet. I'm not saying that Mudang is body positivity, but I'm also kind of saying that maybe for me she is. I feel like for a really long time when I weighed less than I do now even, but was like really insecure about weight stuff.

1:55My goal was to look skinny in any Halloween costume, and it's fun to be like, actually, I'm this chubby hippo, and she's hot, and I look good, you know? So my Halloween costume this year was quite funny because I hosted a holo-meme party where everyone was required to enter my house dressed as a meme. There was no exceptions. I chose to be the Apple Store girl.

2:28Who was always dancing in front of the Apple store. She has these kooky like arm cuffs on that are striped. And yes, everyone kept asking me to do the dance throughout the night. So by the end of it, I perfected it. And I feel like in the TikTok video that my friend AJ posted, that was like my best cut. The Apple store girl actually commented and said, period, she ate my dance up. So that's my claim to fame. I've fulfilled my life goal. So every year I have a tradition of being Britney Spears. So I thought about my favorite music videos and I came up with Toxic.

3:11I think it's an iconic 2000s video. So I chose her red assassin look, like secret agent spy. and I replicated it down to the red wig, the red makeup, the leather catsuit. I did it all. The gag is I didn't even go out in my look. I spent about three hours getting ready. Me and my friends took videos, took content, and then we were like, we actually don't really want to go out. So I just went home. Oh, my God. That's me. Oh, my God. Obsessed. That was so fun. Very creative colleagues. I don't even know what I would do. I feel so old that I wouldn't even know what to be as a holo meme. Me neither.

3:53I'm like, which meme? I was like, Apple Store Girl meme. I'm like, I'm not familiar. Furiously Googles Apple Store Girl. I even put in sexy mudang and I was like, it didn't come up with anything.

4:09What are you dressing up as for Halloween? So I have to tell you, I didn't realize how, like, the emotional roller coaster that Halloween is with young children. And we bought spiderwebs and Halloween decorations on Labor Day weekend. Wait. No, you didn't. Oh, yes. Graham was like, it's too much. It's too soon. Whose idea was this? Mine. I didn't realize that you were a Halloween freak. I love a holiday. I love a trip to a craft store. We went to Michael's. I mean, what's not to love? Except now I'm so ready for it to be Halloween. It's been a full two months. But the problem with planning early is that your kids change their mind.

4:52So Arthur wanted to be a knight. So I was like, great, you can be King Arthur. My mom can be Merlin. Alice can be Archimedes. We had a whole plan. And then Artie came back and was like, because he was obviously going to be King Arthur the knight. We love, of course. But then he came back after watching an episode of Scooby-Doo and was like, there's a Russian witch called the Baba Yaga who has chicken legs, who's like a famous character in Slavic folklore. He's like, I want to be the Baba Yaga. So I was like, oh, how are we going to make a Baba Yaga costume? And actually, Margot Ambuba, who apparently her mother made her Halloween costumes, always had a very good idea of having him be both the Baba Yaga and the house.

5:31So his legs are going to be the chicken legs. And this weekend I like painted an Amazon box brown and we were like drawing shingles on it this morning at 6 a.m. So Arthur's being the Baba Yaga and then Alice and I are being the Magic School Bus and Miss Frizzle. Oh. Which I guess people don't really know the Magic School Bus outside of the U.S. Google Miss Frizzle. She's an iconic character. I've heard of her. She wears very printy dresses, which you would appreciate. and I was trying to find a good dress for her and to potentially much offense for Margo, also another Margo Mbuba. I was like, Margo, don't take this the wrong way, but I feel like you might have a Miss Frizzle dress in your closet.

6:15She did, but then I ended up getting a Miss Frizzle dress at the Miu Miu Prada sale. Oh my God. This is what you were talking about the other week. Yes. And so the dress has actually like little printed jockeys on it. So now I just need to find like kooky earrings and glasses and wear my hair curly and be ready for Miss Frizzle. Long story short, but Halloween is very big in New York City. Very. A lot of things happening. There were lots of parties last weekend, as we heard from our staffers. And I've been already eating so much candy this week. And I'm already concerned about my children eating so much candy.

6:55Yeah, I feel like here, Halloween and Diwali kind of compete. So there's a huge Diwali party near where I live. So I feel like tomorrow night is going to be a bit of both. It's true. It's not usually exactly the same day. No, there's usually huge parties near where I live. So I'm kind of looking forward to that. Just hope it doesn't run too late into the night so I can also get some sleep. Well, speaking of getting sleep, I want to tell you about the CFDAs. I thought it was a very well-run event and a really lovely time. I personally love having it at the Natural History Museum. I had been there the day before with Arthur Albert, and he was very upset because he couldn't visit the walruses because they were setting up the stage.

7:42But I love having it there. And also they had the chicken pot pie with a pastry dinosaur on top, which obviously I'm a big fan of. The problem is there were 20 speeches. There were like 15 awards. It was just it was a long evening. But there were some really amazing moments. Our beloved colleague Hamish Bowles received the Eugenia Shepard Media Award. And Mark Jacobs. Mark was amazing. Mark and Cynthia Erivo, who was the host, had this amazing like nail clacking moment where they did a little power high five. Then Blake Lively presented to Michael Kors, which was sort of a high wattage moment.

8:24Who else did we love? Our beloved Erykah Badu. Oh, my God. Erykah looked incredible. Her speech was unhinged in the best way. She just was like, we were like, where are we going? But we're on the journey. We don't know where it's going, and we're happy to be there. Erykah Badu got the Style Icon Award. um daniel roseberry got the international designer award and his speech i thought was so touching and honest and beautiful he's such a great speech giver he just knows i mean he just always speaks from the heart in a way that feels so warm and compelling well and as you heard on nicole's interview with him on tuesday on the tuesday episode of the show he's just an amazing storyteller.

9:12He really sort of brings you along. But it was an amazing trauma. You would have loved it because it was such an exciting night for young fashion. I felt the FOMO. It felt like the next generation of fashion being really honored. Luar won for best accessories designer. Willie Chevarria for menswear. Rachel Scott from Diatima for best women's wear, which I feel like was an unexpected win. Love, Rachel. Henry Zankov won for Best Emerging Designer. Oh, that's great. So it really felt like a new guard, a celebration of a new guard. And that was exciting to see. I love what you wore. What was it? It was the most comfortable black tie dress I've ever worn.

9:56It was a mock turtleneck, bright, like fire engine red, floor length sweater dress from Carolina Herrera. It was so beautiful on you. Thank you. I loved it. And I went with Coach. And so I wore one of their bags with the, like, I Heart New York charm. So I had my, like, bright red apple to go with my dress. And I was feeling very Big Apple-centric. But there were a lot of great dresses. I loved Alex Consani wore one of the dresses from Aria with all the hands, the sort of cut out, like, jazz hands. And I thought that was a great look. I thought Katie Holmes looked really glam also in Carolina Herrera.

10:35I loved Addison Rae and Tom Brown. I thought that was extremely sexy and fun and fashion-y. Molly Gordon I thought looked great in Proenza. Kylie in Jean-Paul Gaultier Couture. I mean, what a look. It was the JPG by Hyder. Hyder, wow. The Timmy effect. Yeah. Speaking of Timmy. Are we going to talk about Timmy lookalikes? Is that what's happening? That's what's happening. That was unexpected. Not for me. Really? Okay, tell us everything. We've been talking about this. There's been a lot of posters around town about this. And Margot and Bubba went with Kaya George to photograph. And there were a lot of Timmy lookalikes.

11:16And then Timmy himself showed up. Wow. And absolute chaos ensued in Washington Square Park. And people ended up getting arrested. And we were joking. imagine explaining to your parents where you were and why you got arrested it was truly a only in new york situation and then i mean wajin square park all the weirdos it was that and the day before was the dog the dog costume parade oh my god i know i saw my favorite i saw some images and it seemed like it was like the same day but obviously it wasn't It was the day before, but it was just really New York at its kookiest, in my opinion. My favorite dog costume was Wicked.

12:03Like, there were, like, two Wicked Chihuahuas, an Ariana and a Cynthia Chihuahua, and they looked fab.

12:13What else, Choma? What have you been doing this week? Well, we had our Big Forces of Fashion conference. Oh, my God, yes, this weekend, which had so many great moments. I love Lena Dunham talking about her wedding dress. Oh, it was so great. Lena and Christopher Kane have such a wonderful rapport and hearing them talk about life, really. It was so great. I mean, obviously, everybody in the room was waiting for John Galliano. And some of the students who came to the conference, they were leaving their sneakers on chairs. They were trying to buy a ticket. They were trying to buy people's front row seats.

12:46It was insane. People were just so excited for John. And John was there with his dear friend Gwendolyn Christie and they had such an amazing conversation. And I'm so excited because we're going to be able to share that conversation on the pod. And let me tell you, he talks through some of his most amazing pivotal shows. And Gwendolyn did her research in a way that, let me tell you, was incredible. And I just think it's one of those conversations that's going to stay with me for forever. It was really unforgettable. Louros was also super fun. His conversation with Munro Bergdorf was just, he just seems like he's having the best time of his life right now.

13:29And he told this story about when him and Zendaya went to meet John and John made this entire storybook for the character that Zendaya would play on the red carpet at the Met Gala, like an entire storybook. Like she was this socialite who got lost on the way to on the subway and woke up at the Met. And it was just like incredible. They were sitting at his knees like two children listening to him tell this story about this dress he'd created. Then they surprised John by showing him the other dress which Zendaya had bought, which was a dress that he showed for one of the very few Givenchy collections that he designed.

14:11And he was completely surprised. she'd bought it in this shop and it still had Veronica Webb's name in it because it was the actual sample that Veronica Webb wore. And she obviously wore that on the red carpet of the Met. So there were some great stories that came out, both from everybody. I think the conversation with John is going to be a real special one. Okay, well, I'm very excited. Choma, it's big news here. Voting is underway. I can feel the tension from across the ocean. I am on pins and needles. Every day there seems to be a new update or a new take on what can happen. It's a very stressful waiting game at the moment.

14:53And I think that people should channel their anxiety into phone banking and canvassing this weekend if that's a possibility for people. I actually always love voting on day of in person. So I will be voting at the Unitarian Church around the corner from my apartment. I'm always very grateful to all the lovely Upper West Side ladies who volunteer at my polling place. Also, Abby Soberg, our head of audience development, is volunteering at her polling station in Pittsburgh. And she's writing a piece about it for us. It's fascinating how complicated it is. And it's a lot of work to volunteer at a polling station.

15:33So I encourage everyone to read about that. We also have a really interesting piece that Lena Dunham wrote about what she wished she'd known about women's reproductive health when she was a first-time voter. And it's drawing from her own experience with her hysterectomy. And that I think will be really powerful and I hope everyone reads. Also, one up this week, which I loved. We've been talking a lot about capturing first-time voters, and the photo team ended up connecting with a photo student at Howard University, which is obviously Kamala Harris's alma mater. And Kaya George, one of our photo editors, found a photo student at Howard, Blake Spencer, who took great photographs of first-time voters at Howard and interviewed them about what issues are important to them, why they're voting.

16:29And I think it was really nice to hear from young people. Wait, Giselle Bündchen. Oh, my God. Can you believe it? People are so excited about this. I know. I know. I mean, I'm excited for her. And I think it's great to see her make a second start with a new family. And often we always see men having like start over families. And it's so great to see a woman in her mid 40s doing that. It's kind of really feels really empowering. And like, he seems young and hot and they can have a fab family. And I'm just here for it. We love that. The run through will be back in a moment.

17:20Hi, I'm Rebecca Ford, senior awards correspondent at Vanity Fair and co-host of Little Gold Men. Oscar season is upon us. Little Gold Men takes you behind the scenes of the race for the biggest prize in Hollywood. There's a hundred wrestlers in the room, but only one can be Oscar nominated. Whether you're a movie lover or an industry buff, Little Gold Men from Vanity Fair has everything you need to know about this year's Oscar race. Follow and listen to Little Gold Men wherever you get your podcasts.

18:01And we're back. I had a really fun week because my sister who lives in Paris came to New York for the week with my 12-year-old niece who'd never been to New York before. And that was super fun. And we had such a good time. And she just loved being here so much. She came to the office. They went to the Empire State Building. And we went to see Romeo and Juliet. And it was the perfect play for a preteen. I loved it. I thought it was super fun. It's like Shakespeare x Euphoria. The music's fun. they're adorable with each other uh kit connor and rachel zegler and like this famous pull-up kiss that they do is so charming so sexy they're adorable i'm i was totally there for all of it tommy dorfman as the nurse is great all the actors except for kit connor rachel zegler play multiple roles and i thought that was successful it's at circle in the square theater which is if you haven't been there a theater where the stage is a circle and there are seats all around it like Shakespeare or like the circus.

19:04So I was really excited to see that. And we have this week Rachel and Kit on the show, and they were just adorable. And obviously, Zegler, I find very charming that her other best-known role was playing a different version of Juliet, which is Maria from West Side Story. And Kit Conner, who I have not seen Heartstopper, but people are obsessed with him from that. And they joined me in the studio along with our editor, Liam Hess, who had interviewed them for our September issue. And it was just a real treat to be with them. Oh, I can't wait to hear the interview. It's fun.

19:49Guys, thank you so much for being here. We are very excited. And after seeing your schedule today, I was particularly grateful. Oh, of course. Thank you for having us. Pleasure. Yeah, you must be exhausted. You're doing eight shows a week and then squeezing in interviews, photo shoots, all the rest. How are you holding up? I think I'm holding up well. Yeah, I think so too. How are you holding up, Rachel? I think you and I are very good at getting our rest and getting our sleep and knowing what to do to reset. We've been quite good at saying no to, hey, do you want to go out and party tonight? Nope.

20:25We go, no. Nope. And then we text each other. I said no. Yeah, my body's feeling it a little bit. We have a very, very physical show, and I am aware of that every time I wake up. Well, it's so great to see you both again, because obviously I met you both in a park in London in June for the Vogue story, and I think you were headed to your first ever read-through. Oh, wow. And it was only the second time you'd met, but you already had an amazing rapport and amazing chemistry. Tell me a little bit about the journey that you've been on since then. Well, I would say that that first read-through was a real, you know, somewhat monumental for us, I think.

21:07It was the first time that we were both reading the lines aloud and have some kind of frame of reference as to what our play was going to sound like and look like. And it's really hard when you're memorizing something and it's living in your four walls, like in your apartment, and then all of a sudden getting to look into somebody's eyes and say it and then know whether or not you even know it and have it memorized. And it was such a wonderful learning experience and also a casting opportunity for Sam Gold because the person who read for The Nurse and Tybalt that day is a very talented actor named Tahin Modak who now plays Benvolio on Broadway, making his Broadway debut.

21:44Yeah, we got another Brit in the cast, which I'm very thankful for. What would you have done? What would I have done? Oh my gosh. I'm always curious for actors, because you were aware of how many months you were going to be going on this journey together. What is that like? Do you get nervous that that chemistry is not going to be there? I think we knew that first time we met, at least I feel like we've talked about it, that we were going to be okay. Which one? When we met? Well, we met for the first time at the diner and then went to the theater. Yeah. And it was like kind of a, there was an inherent comfort that came with it.

22:24and knowing that it was going to be okay. Yeah, I think we both felt that there was like, you know, we both cared enough about it and we both would be able to sort of like trust the other person to do all the work that we wanted to be able to do. Yeah. Yeah, so I think that there was already a level of respect there and things like that. And then I think Primrose Hill was actually the third time we'd met because then we did the Jersey shoot. We did shoot the commercial. Because I had the buzz cut by the time we did Vogue. By that point, I think we were able to. Map your relationship in haircuts.

22:52Exactly. In his haircuts, certainly. in one hand. My hair hasn't changed. It's just gotten longer. Yeah. No, but I mean, I don't think, I don't think I could have predicted that we would get on so well. And I feel really grateful for the fact that within that, that shared care for the material and for the show itself, we have found like a really wonderful rapport and a way of speaking with each other and communicating properly. And, but then also it's fun and it's bits and it's, it's a good time. Like I want to hang out with you. It's not just that I have to and you don't, yeah. Yeah. I want to know when the first time both of you saw Romeo and Juliet or read Romeo and Juliet when you guys were growing up.

23:31I read it in the fifth or sixth grade. Oh, wow. Yeah. I was in a program in my grammar school. I went to Catholic school my whole life. In New Jersey. In New Jersey. In my grammar school, you could be in a thing called kaleidoscope, which was two years above your reading level and two years above your math level. So I think that's when I read Romeo and Juliet for the first time was in like the fifth or sixth grade. And I was Mercutio. They had me read Mercutio. Of course they did. Yeah. The hardest role. The best role. It is the best part. I don't know when the first, I don't know when I saw it for the first time.

24:06My introduction to it was probably, if we're being honest, Rita Moreno in West Side Story when I was a kid. And that was like when I was aware of the story when I didn't really know what the story was. I just knew, you know, the story of West Side Story. For me, it was probably the Baz Luhrmann version. The Baz Luhrmann one, yeah. Also, one of my first real memories of Romeo and Juliet is in Hot Fuzz. When they do the... So whenever I hear you say, I'll kiss thy lips. I always think of her going, I'll kiss thy lips. And then it just really, it does make me laugh. Yeah. Sometimes it is hard to do our stage death when all I can picture is that.

24:50It's hot fuzz. It makes sense. No, it makes sense. It's funny. What makes this version of the play different? Yeah, I mean, I think that the approach that we've tried to take, as Sam kind of originally pitched to us, was this idea that a group of kids, for whatever reason, whether it be a sort of slight anger with the world that they've been left or the society that they've been left, or if it's even just to sort of shake off the stress that they have, have decided to break into the Circle in the Square Theatre and put on Romeo and Juliet because they feel that it best represents what they feel and how they feel.

25:29So that's kind of the approach that we've taken. It's supposed to be youthful and a little bit messy and, like, horny and kind of ridiculous at times. And we found the humor in it, which is written, but, you know, not always leaned into. And so we've definitely been encouraged to lean into the language that really offers itself to humor. The first half, especially, is really... Yeah, Act One is hysterical, believe it or not, in the tragedy. On the subject of it feeling youthful, I had seen on Fallon that you mentioned, Sam Gold pitched it almost like, Sam Gold being the director, pitched it almost like a Troye Sivan music video.

26:09and Rachel, you've said that Juliet is, well, she would be having a brat girl summer. She definitely did. She's having a brat summer. It's plugged into the zeitgeist. It really is. I mean, people were coming out saying, like, this is Romeo and Juliet for people who couldn't get tickets to the sweat tour. And I thought that was really funny. I think it's accurate. Did you guys go to the sweat tour? No, we were working. We were actually performing. Yeah, we were working. You get to do some dancing on stage, right? We do. We have a bit of a... I attempt to do it. You have such a great dance scene.