‘All Of You’: Brett Goldstein On Love, The Science of Soulmates, ‘Shrinking’ Surprises, & ‘Ted Lasso’ [The Discourse Podcast]

Love stories are rarely clean, and in “All of You,” the mess is the point. The new drama follows Simon and Laura, lifelong friends played by Brett Goldstein and Imogen Poots, as they drift in and out of each other’s lives while a soulmate test promises definitive answers to the question of “the one.” Instead of neat bows and easy catharsis, the film leans into questioning love, heartbreak, longing, and the choices that cut both ways. It arrives on Apple TV+ on September 26 as a romance that challenges more than it comforts, leaving audiences to wrestle with what they believe about love itself.

Goldstein, best known for his Emmy-winning turn as Roy Kent on “Ted Lasso,” writes and stars here with a deliberate rejection of formula. By refusing to turn the story’s love triangle into a moral shortcut, he forces every character to stand on equal ground. Laura’s husband isn’t a villain but a caring, funny, and decent man, making the decision at the film’s core sting much more. Time jumps and fragmented glimpses of Simon and Laura together invite the audience to fill in the missing years with their own experience, blurring the line between fiction and memory.

READ MORE: ‘All Of You’ Review: Brett Goldstein & Imogen Poots Heat Up Decade-Spanning Sci-Fi Romance [TIFF]

In this episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo sits down with Goldstein to discuss building a romance that resists tidy resolution, cutting dialogue in favor of subtext, and finding an improvised final line that changes the ending. He also opens up about his upcoming hard-R rom-com with Jennifer Lopez, new surprises in “Shrinking,” filming the next chapter of “Ted Lasso,” and his dreams of joining the Muppets on screen.

During the conversation, Goldstein admitted that the challenge of “All of You” was to honor every character with the same care. “I always like to write characters with love,” he explained. “Normally in a rom-com, there’s a love triangle, and the other guy is boring or a dickhead. But that’s cheating. Most people are good and trying their best. We wanted to stack the odds against everyone.” The result, he says, is a story where audiences can understand each side, even as it hurts to watch.

The soulmate test at the film’s heart is never presented as a gimmick. “The test is real. The science is real,” Goldstein said. The creative team even developed and shot a full scientific explanation before cutting it in the edit. “People wouldn’t sit around talking about the science of it. They’d just go, ‘Have you taken the test?’” Simon’s refusal to participate, meanwhile, becomes both a romantic gesture and a quiet act of fear. “There’s a nice theory of being like Aerosmith and saying life’s the journey, not the destination,” he said. “But on the other hand, what are you scared of? Are you scared of love? Are you scared of things being settled? Are you scared of the truth?”

Audiences have already begun claiming the story as their own. “Everyone thinks it’s about them,” Goldstein revealed. “One woman told me so much about her life and insisted the film was true because she had lived it.” He credits that reaction to the structure of only showing Simon and Laura together. “Because you don’t know what their lives are when we don’t see them, you fill in the gaps. That makes it more personal because you’re probably filling in your own stuff.”

The stripped-down approach also applied to dialogue. Much of it was cut in favor of subtext. “The audience are much smarter than they’re given credit for,” Goldstein said. “The more you respect an audience and leave them space, the more they lean in.” He recalled one dinner scene where a moving monologue delivered by Zawe Ashton was ultimately removed. “You already know it from her look. We don’t need this. The look is heartbreaking.”

Even the ending evolved during production. It was always meant to land in the same place, but the last line was found on the day. “It used to end on a joke,” Goldstein explained. “But we realized these characters needed not to make a joke. They had actually to say how they feel. What became the last line was improvised because director William Bridges said,” ‘Just say what you feel.’ And that’s how it stuck.”

Goldstein’s lifelong love of the Muppets also came up during the conversation. He revealed that he has even had talks about making a Muppet movie in recent years. “Some talks have been had, if I’m being honest, but who knows? We’re a long way from it,” he said. Any fan knows it would be a dream project for him, as he has often shared that his favorite film is “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” and has described filming his guest appearance on “Sesame Street” as “the best day of his life.”

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Goldstein also previewed his tonal swing into lighter territory with a hard-R rom-com he wrote titled “Office Romance.” Oh, and he’s starring alongside Jennifer Lopez. Goldstein teased what to expect. “It’s like Norah Efron with hard-R jokes. It’s slightly heightened and aspirational and pretty and all of that, but it’s also warm and comforting,” he said, referencing the spirit of films like “Working Girl.” “It’s very different from [“All of You”] because [“All of You”] is real and raw and challenging.”

As if that’s not enough, Goldstein also has multiple high-profile TV projects he’s still working on. Season 3 of “Shrinking” is fast approaching. Goldstein praised new cast members Michael J. Fox and Jeff Daniels while keeping specifics under wraps. “Watching Michael J. Fox with Harrison Ford… everyone was at the monitor. It was so beautiful. And Jeff Daniels, he’s a fucking good actor. That’s all I can tell you.” And while he played coy on screen time as Roy Kent, Goldstein confirmed that “Ted Lasso” is filming again. “All I can tell you is that we are filming and it’s going to be really good. What we’ve filmed so far is wonderful.”

“All of You” premieres on Apple TV+ on September 26.

Listen to the full Brett Goldstein interview below:

The DiDiscourse is part of The Playlist Podcast Network, which includes Deep Focus, Bingeworthy, and more. We can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and most places where podcasts are found. You can stream the podcast via the embed within the article.. Be sure to subscribe and drop us a comment or a rating, as we greatly appreciate it. Thank you for listening.

The Playlist Presents: Brett Goldstein’s Film Recommendation Playlist:

• “Together”
• “Weapons”
• “Sinners”