While Ed Oxenbould and Avan Jogia are the top-two billed stars of The Exchange, the real star of the upcoming throwback comedy will be Justin Hartley’s facial hair. The This Is Us star went full shag for his role as Rothbauer, a “firm but fair” gym teacher. In the trailer released Tuesday (June 22), Justin, 44, looked less like a heartthrob and more like Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite. The transformation promises hilarity in this new film (that’s out in theaters, on digital, and On Demand on July 30.)
The film’s synopsis reads: “A socially awkward but highly enterprising teenager (Oxenbould) decides to acquire a ‘mail order best friend’: a sophisticated exchange student from France (Jogia). Instead, he ends up importing his personal nightmare, a cologne-soaked, chain-smoking, sex-obsessed youth who quickly becomes the hero of his new community.” It’s one part “fish out of water,” and one part “coming of age” film, all wrapped up in a mid-1980s gloss that should be a fun time.
A month ago, Justin made news when he tied the knot with Sofia Pernas after a year of dating. The couple first sparked marriage rumors when they both wore wedding rings to the MTV Movie & TV Awards on May 16, 2021. A day after their appearance, PEOPLE reported that the couple had “recently” wed, meaning that Justin was once again off the market. He was previously married to Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause from 2017 to 2021. Justin filed for divorce in November 2019, with the split being finalized in February of this year. He was also married to his Passions co-star Lindsay Korman from 2004 to 2012.
Justin and Sofia were first romantically linked in May 2020, after photos of them kissing surfaced online. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, they were successful in keeping a low profile. At the end of 2020, they made the relationship “Instagram Official” with a pair of posts on their respective profiles. “Last minutes of 2020 here in LA. Bring on 2021! Happy New Year!” he captioned his Dec. 31 post while she wrote, “Sayonara 2020, it’s been real. Happy New Year from our quarantine den to yours.”
