Cheri Oteri On The Film’s Approach To Love In The Metaverse

Director L.E. Staiman’s latest film, Love Virtually, is currently available to stream on Digital and On Demand. The comedy follows four couples trying to navigate their relationship in a world that has become addicted to the Metaverse. With most of the romance taking place in virtual reality, the movie addresses the futuristic idea of humans finding love outside the atmosphere they’re accustomed to.

Cheri Oteri plays the role of Dr. Evelyn, a therapist who is unknowingly having a virtual affair with her own husband. Oteri has worked on projects such as Scary Movie and Inspector Gadget. However, she is most well known for her long-running role in Saturday Night Live. The main cast of Love Virtually also includes Paul F. Tompkins, Peter Gilroy, Ryan O’Flanagan, Adam Ray, Nikki Howard, Tom Virtue, Paige Mobley, Vincent Washington, Ksenia Valenti, Harper Frawley, L.E. Staiman, and Stephen Tobolowsky.

Screen Rant interviewed Cheri Oteri about playing a live-action and animated version of herself and how the film approaches the concept of finding love in a virtual world.

Cheri Oteri Talks Love Virtually

Screen Rant: As someone who’s worked on so many different projects, what drew you to Love Virtually?

Cheri Oteri: We did it during the pandemic, and it was so nice to actually be able to work. They were careful about everything. When I read this script, I was like, “Oh, my God, this is so interesting,” because it’s what we’re experiencing right now. It’s like putting a lens on everything that we experienced during COVID. Everybody was forced to move work and personal interactions online during a time when technology was advancing and creating all these social cages. It puts a spotlight on this technology that is supposed to connect us, and it kind of disconnects us. It was very, very profound and fun. I also loved how they combined live-action and 3D animation.

I was actually going to ask you about that. You’ve obviously done voice work in the past, but what was it like being in a film where you got to play a live-action and animated version of yourself?

Cheri Oteri: I love being animated because it’s funny to see somebody else’s view of you animated. I wasn’t insulted. Let’s just say that. It was fun to see that. I loved playing this therapist. The greatest thing is that everybody who is supposed to be helping you through something has their own sh*t going on. It was funny to see both sides of how she was poorly relating to her client, and it was reflective of her life with her husband.

The doctor-patient relationship between your character and Clarissa was such a fun part of the film. Were there any nuances that you and Nikki added during those sessions to elevate the comedy?

Cheri Oteri: It was weird because we were doing it separately. It was kind of hard to work off one another. The dialogue was funny, and I just thought she was the worst therapist, and it was hysterical. She’s calling her out on her sh*t as well, but she was not clinical at all. She was unprofessional.

Did you notice any similarities between Evelyn and the characters you’ve played in the past, or did you get to flex new muscles?

Cheri Oteri: I’ve always wanted to play a therapist. I played a life coach for AMC’s digital space. Years ago, they were dipping their toe into comedy. We did shorts online. It was so much fun. My character was like, “Why spend a lot of money talking about the past, when you could spend a lot less on a person without all the education who talks about the future?” which was what a life coach does, as opposed to a trained therapist or psychologist. Sometimes, the lack of professionalism with therapy today is fun to play. I had a therapist once, who I had so much fun with. I thought to myself, “I laugh a lot with this woman,” but that in itself was therapy. We got to know each other, and we laughed so much.

When I was on SNL, I had a therapist that never spoke back to me. She was truly expensive, and very clinical, and very cold. She would say, “How does that make you feel?,” and I’m like, “Not good,” and she’d say, “I hear what you’re saying.” She would say that so much. “How does that make you feel?” and “I hear what you’re saying.” My friends hear what I’m saying for free. Having a few different therapists in my life was it. It’s interesting how different they are. I had one that was so cold and never said anything, and the other one was just so warm, and we laughed our a*ses off, and she was good as well. It was fun to play somebody not professional.

The film follows multiple different couples, so whose story did you find the most compelling?

Cheri Oteri: I loved Peter Gilroy’s. He just suffered so much loss, and he was so insecure, and you see him go through, in a completely different way, how you come back from that. When I watch movies, and I see somebody get broken up—that’s why I think people are interested in reality shows—it’s how do you bounce back from humiliation and rejection? You can’t run away. It was fun to see him in this Metaverse world come back from so much loss. I loved how everybody meets at the end at the club. Everything all comes together at that club at the end.

What do you feel the film is trying to say about the Metaverse and the realism of people finding love in a virtual world?

Cheri Oteri: I remember dating, years ago, and this guy was always texting me. I was just like, “Why isn’t he calling me?” And I guess that was old school and old fashion, and I started to think, “Okay, that’s how people are connecting.” I started to enjoy it, and I started to do it, and I started to do it back. I’m like, “Oh my gosh, this is fun.” I was laughing at some of these texts. He’d take video and text me. I was like okay, “I get this.” Then I stopped getting the texts so much. We went out on two dates, and yet, I feel like we had a full-on relationship. And yet, it was all texting. When the texts were less and less, and we were supposed to go out on another date, and I didn’t hear from him, I texted him and said, “I haven’t heard from you about today. Are we still on?” He texts me back and says he’s sick. I’m like, “Well, when were you going to tell me?”

It was so weird because I saw that I was slowly being distanced with by texting, and my feelings got really hurt. He wouldn’t say, “I met somebody else,” or “This isn’t going to work.” He just kept distancing, but kept hanging on to me. He was, essentially, gaslighting me, and I couldn’t believe my feelings were hurt. I never even spoke to this guy. We went on two dates and everything, but I had a relationship with this guy just through text. People were dating online, and it just got worse and worse. You could get your feelings hurt by somebody you’ve never met. It’s good, and then it’s bad, and I love these guys who say, “I’m not interested in texting.” There’s so much off-ness to it. I just think it can be such a detriment. You can get your feelings hurt by somebody you’ve not spent any time with or fall in love with somebody that you’ve not spent time with.

I just think we’re getting worse and worse where that’s concerned. There’s nothing that will replace one-on-one. People are so brave to say awful things on the internet and do awful things. I don’t think it would be that way as much if you were face-to-face. When you look somebody in the eyes, it’s completely different. It’s a different thing. I think this film really put a lens on the downside to doing everything virtual and not having true one-on-one interaction. But yet, you’re caught up with all the consultations, as if you were together. I just thought, “Wow, this is really capturing a time.” I wonder how, historically, we’re going to look back on this?

About Love Virtually

In a world where the Metaverse has become widely adopted, four couples go to ridiculous lengths to find true love in a virtual world. Love Virtually is a retro-future satirical rom-com for the Metaverse era, blending live action and 3D animation as it explores and exposes the absurd reality of our world and where we are heading, while probing life’s deepest questions such as: How does a celebrity find someone who loves them for their true selves? Is it cheating if it’s in VR? And, is it cheating if it’s with an AI?

Check back soon for our interview with Love Virtually star Stephen Tobolowsky, as well.