It’s pretty obvious watching the book-to-screen adaptation of People We Meet On Vacation that When Harry Met Sally served as major inspiration. In fact, in Emily Henry’s “Behind the Book” notes, she references the great rom-com as such. However, the movie on Netflix’s 2026 schedule pays homage to more iconic films, too. Two of those references specifically come during the amazing dance number between Poppy and Alex, and I spoke to Tom Blyth and Emily Bader about them.
When I interviewed Emily Bader and Tom Blyth, who play Poppy and Alex, respectively, I had to ask about their dance scene in New Orleans. That’s because it’s both a pivotal, loving trip in PWMOV and because this moment is one of the few where we get to see Alex really cut loose. Speaking to how they came up with their moves, Bader told CinemaBlend:
Well, we did have to do choreography because, you know, they're gonna shoot it from a million different angles, so it has to be the same, otherwise it would cut together so crazy. So we basically went into this church space in New Orleans, and just came up with some ideas with this amazing choreographer and tried to – I mean, honestly, it was like, I would come up with a few things, you came up with a lot. And then she would tell us how to do it, and kind of string it all together in a fun way.
Now, by itself, this dance number is incredibly fun and the joy radiating from it is infectious. However, it gets better. That’s because the choreography pays homage to two movies with iconic dance numbers. Tom Blyth broke down all that with me, saying:
And paying homage to some of our favorite films as well. That was part of it, like, we kind of tried to get a little Dirty Dancing number in there, and then you tried to get the Charlie's Angels hip thrust.
I can’t get over how fun these Easter eggs are. Between the “Charlie’s Angels hip thrust” Blyth referred to, the move where Cameron Diaz and her partner crossed their arms over each other, and even the little robot moves both movies feature, I can totally feel the Charlie’s Angels energy.
Meanwhile, while they didn’t recreate the iconic lift from Dirty Dancing, they certainly did pay homage to Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze’s routine. Specifically, when Poppy and Alex come together and do a few partnered moves toward the end, it was 100% giving Dirty Dancing.
Overall, I love that Blyth, Bader, and their choreographer created moments that reference some seriously legendary movies. However, I also love how these moves help progress the story and teach us more about Poppy and Alex.
For example, as I mentioned earlier, this scene shows off a side of Alex that only comes out on vacation. While he’s normally very reserved, Poppy and these trips help him let loose and have some fun, and that was on full display as he busted a move.
I also adore this scene because it serves as such a wonderful turning point in Alex and Poppy’s relationship. While it isn’t explicitly said in the movie, the two actors and I talked about how things started to shift from platonic toward romantic in New Orleans. During the dance scene, I could for sure feel that tension as they got close while “Forever Your Girl” played.
Now, to go back and see this all play out, and to catch the fun film references for yourself, you can stream People We Meet On Vacation with a Netflix subscription.
