Why Miranda Cosgrove Wishes Rom-Coms ‘Were Real’ (Exclusive)

Call Miranda Cosgrove the queen of Valentine’s Day — or, more accurately, queen of Galentine’s Day.

“February’s a ways away, but most likely I will be having a Valentine’s single party at my house,” the actress, 32, tells PEOPLE of what has become an annual tradition. “My single friends will come over and we’ll watch whatever rom-coms came out on Netflix, or we’ll watch the old rom-coms.”

The “comforting” genre’s classics can bring her gal pals together like nothing else, adds Cosgrove. “These kinds of movies have gotten me through so many different things in my life.”

It’s because she’s “such a fan of the genre” that that iCarly star was “a little nervous” to lead one, she says. In The Wrong Paris (on Netflix Sept. 12) Cosgrove leads as both actress and executive producer in a riff on The Bachelor. She plays Dawn, a Texan woman entering a reality dating competition show for its promise of a flight to her art school in Paris, France — only to discover it’s filming in Paris, Texas. 

“This is my first time ever being a lead in a rom-com,” notes the former child actress, who whetted her appetite as Brooke Shields’ daughter in last year’s Netflix hit Mother of the Bride. “It was definitely a new experience for me, new territory.” 

Along with director Janeen Damian and writer Nicole Henrich, Cosgrove says she “wanted to just make sure that it was really fun and that people felt good after they watched [The Wrong Paris]. That’s just the whole point of these kinds of movies.”

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Of course, a rom-com only works with a convincing connection between both romantic leads. As executive producer, Cosgrove weighed in on casting Pierson Fodé as Trey, the bachelor contestant running a lavish Texan ranch. “When he came in to do the chemistry reads, that was really when I knew for sure, ‘This is going to work out,’ ” she recalls. 

“I asked a bunch of my girlfriends at the time,” she adds with a laugh. “They were all like, ‘Him.’ All my friends just had crushes on Pierson.”

The former The Bold and the Beautiful star is “a really good actor and a great person,” Cosgrove says, noting that he stands 6 feet, 7 inches tall. “And it’s just crazy how tall he is… They kept having to put me up on boxes and things for certain shots because I’m still much smaller than him.”

The Wrong Paris could surely be included in Valentine’s Day (or Galentine’s Day) get-togethers to come, of course. Currently, Cosgrove says, “I’m down to two friends that are single. It’s going to be the smallest party next year… The worst is when you’re the only one and everybody else is coupled up and then you’re watching a rom-com alone. That’s not as fun.”

And yes, she is single, and no, she’s “not really working that hard at” changing that. “I feel like I need to try a little harder. I’m sort of one of those crazy people that thinks I’m just going to run into somebody at a coffee shop,” she says. 

That notion, Cosgrove readily admits, comes from the very world she’s now entered on-screen: rom-coms. “I wish [meet-cutes] were real. I’m sure it happens sometimes. It has to have happened to someone out there, right?”

The Wrong Paris debuts Friday, Sept. 12 only on Netflix.