Maika Monroe Reveals the Meaning Behind Her ‘Little Pickle’ Tattoo

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The “Reminders of Him” co-stars licked each other’s eyes, sobbed through rehearsals, and built one of Hollywood’s most unexpected on-screen bonds — Maika Monroe tells Variety exactly how it happened

By S. JHA

Mumbai, March 15, 2026 — Some actors run lines. Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers licked each other’s eyes.

In a candid new interview with Variety, Monroe — starring alongside Withers in the upcoming romantic drama Reminders of Him — pulled back the curtain on one of the more unconventional actor-bonding processes in recent Hollywood memory. The result, she says, was something neither of them entirely expected.

“It was really unexpectedly very powerful,” Monroe told Variety, reflecting on the pair’s unusual rehearsal process. “You kind of had to be very vulnerable and open and uncomfortable and show a side of yourself,” she said.

What followed was, by her own admission, a complete emotional ambush. “Something happened. I don’t know. I’m like — what? It’s sometimes weird stuff happens,” she said, laughing. “But yeah, it was like this weird bonding thing. And I think it immensely helped us,” she added.

Both actors ended up in tears — not polite, cinematic tears, but full, unguarded sobbing. “Sobbing, sobbing,” Monroe confirmed. Adding: “Something broke through for sure.”

‘Little Pickle’: The Tattoo, the Mom, the Memory

The conversation took a quieter, more personal turn when Withers — who had apparently been paying close attention — zeroed in on one of Monroe’s tattoos during their sessions together.

The tattoo reads little pickle — and it is, Monroe revealed, her most treasured piece of ink.

“It’s my mom’s handwriting,” she said, adding: “And it’s what she used to call me when I was younger. It’s literally my favourite.”

The detail speaks to exactly the kind of intimacy their rehearsal process was designed to unlock — the personal histories, private languages and small emotional anchors that make a performance feel lived-in rather than performed.

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Taking It Outside the Studio: The Giveon Concert

For Monroe, building a convincing on-screen relationship with Withers meant more than shared rehearsal time. She invited him to a Giveon concert — a deliberate move to get to know her co-star as a full human being rather than just a scene partner.

“I think it’s important to get to know each other outside of the work,” she told Variety, adding: “Just getting to know a person in a deeper way, understand them better. It just felt like a really fun thing to do — and he was up for everything.”

The detail is telling. Giveon, the R&B artist known for his deep-voiced, emotionally resonant music about love and longing, is a fitting soundtrack choice for two actors preparing to inhabit a story about human connection. Monroe’s choice of concert venue says something about the emotional register she was aiming for.