By Michaela Gordoni
Kevin James spilled all the details about his new Angel Studios rom-com, SOLO MIO, and his experience filming — and eating — in Italy.
James plays Matt Taylor, a groom jilted at the altar who decides to go on his Italian honeymoon solo.
“It was a great, great cast, Kim Coates and Jonathon Roumie and Nicole Grimaldo and Alyson Hannigan…Everybody came together, and it was such a beautiful place to shoot that literally, I think it’s the best movie I’ve been a part of,” he told GOOD MORNING AMERICA. “And not because of me but because of the people…the directors and…it’s a really beautiful picture.”
In fact, the incredible cast chemistry brought him back to his days as Doug in KING OF QUEENS.
“I haven’t felt a chemistry like that until this movie,” James said. “It’s an amazing feeling, and you don’t get it very often but when you do, you got something special. You just kind of feel it.”
Filming in Italy had its perks.
“I gained 30 pounds,” James said. “Tiramisu was a highlight. It was rough,” he joked.
Related: Jonathan Roumie’s Next Movie? A Rom-Com With Kevin James
While Italy’s food doesn’t have all the chemicals and preservatives like American food, “I defied the odds…Turns out chemicals wasn’t the problem,” he jested of gaining weight.
In another interview, he admitted while he loved all the Italian food, he missed peanut butter.
“If you don’t have peanut butter within a month you start losing your mind,” he quipped. “I was so happy to be an American because we make it so good here.”
But “I just kept eating all the food there,” he said.
“The directors were like, ‘You gotta stop man. We can’t even hide this anymore,’” James recalled. “I was changing daily. They were like, ‘You look different than yesterday.”
To promote the movie, it seems that James is pretending to be a fourth grade art teacher on Instagram named Matt Taylor — the same name as his SOLO MIO character — in what The Hollywood Reporter called a “stealth marketing” campaign.
In some videos, James talks to students in a classroom, sharing his philosophy on art. In others, he paints, almost like Bob Ross.
But followers seem to have caught on.
“Mr Taylor looks familiar…like I’ve seen him at the mall or something…can’t quite place it,” one follower joked, referencing James’ iconic MALL COP role.
“Mr. Taylor was my art teacher and he taught me that anyone can finger paint,” another jested.
Many of the videos are counting down to “Mr. Taylor’s” upcoming nuptials with his fiancée — Feb. 6, 2026 — the same day SOLO MIO debuts in theaters.
Coincidence? Probably not.
Read Next: The Hilarious Way Kevin James Is Promoting His Latest Movie
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