Avril Lavigne Talks Love, Olivia Rodrigo, and Sk8r Boi Movie

Singer Avril Lavigne, 37, is back with her 7th studio album, “Love Sux”!

“Extra’s” Rachel Lindsay spoke with Lavigne, who opened up about writing about love, as well as her relationship with boyfriend Mod Sun.

Twenty years ago, Lavigne reached superstardom with her hit song “Complicated.” Now, she’s back with her new song “Bite Me.”

Of her musical journey, Avril said, “It feels awesome… it’s who I am. I’ve been singing since I was like 5. I put my first album out when I was 17. I’m just stoked to be here… I’m having the time of my life.”

As for the inspiration behind “Love Sux,” Lavigne said, “When I started this record, I was in this place where I was like, ‘I’m taking a break from relationships, like, I need a hot minute. I’m just gonna focus on myself, I’m just gonna do me.’ That didn’t last very long, about two days literally… Relationships aren’t easy and love does, like, crazy things to us, and I just talk about it. I write about it in all these songs.”

While love can be heartbreaking, Avril writes the songs with “a sense of humor” and wants to “keep them light because it’s life.”

She noted, “Relationships are not easy. But at the same time, I do love love, and I want to be in a relationship and happy and long-term.”

Avril is “in a really good place” with her beau, who is a collaborator on “Love Sux.”

Aside from working with Mod Sun, Lavigne also enlisted the help of “cool people” like Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker on her new album.

Avril shared, “Travis has been playing with me a lot. I’m like, “I feel like we're in a band together, this is so fun!” ‘Cause I’ve always been a solo artist my whole career and I’ve just always sort of envied bands.”

Lavigne is about to headline the highly anticipated “When We Were Young” festival this fall. She said, “During my shows, I see all ages and I’ve met newer artists and they’ve told me my music inspired them and they listened to me growing up and it’s, like, so crazy. It’s so cool.”

One of those young artists is… Olivia Rodrigo! Along with calling it “amazing” to have the “good 4 u” singer as a fan, Avril commented, “I look at someone like Olivia, and I’m like, I see myself in her a little bit. She’s so young and writing about the stuff she’s going through and everything’s such a big deal and it’s so intense, the emotions, your firsts, and stuff.”

Along with praising Rodrigo for “killing it,” Lavigne said, “I love seeing women telling their story and really diving deep into songwriting like that, and then I feel like people really connect with that realness and rawness.”

Fans of all ages still can’t get enough of her hit “Sk8er Boi,” and now Lavigne is taking that tune to the big screen!

Avril dished, “I’m just basically producing and developing and overseeing the whole project, picking the writers and directors and going through the whole process with them. I’m so excited to learn, too, like, I always wanted to be involved in, like, film. I’ve acted and stuff like that, like, I’m not gonna star in this or anything, but, like, I love that industry as well and so it’s gonna be so fun. And then I’m gonna hit up all my friends and be like, ‘Yo, Mark Hoppus from Blink 182, come be a teacher, Tony Hawk, come play Skater Dad!’”

The movie will have some “elements” of her life, like the car that she drove and some of her wardrobe. Discussing the plot of the movie, she shared, “The story of ‘Sk8er Boi’ came from my high school experience. I skateboarded and genuinely only liked guys that were skaters. I was like, ‘Oh, he’s cool, he has skate shoes on.’ I would do a double-take. No lie. That’s where the song came from. But, like, it’s about all the different groups in high school, the preps, the jocks, the skaters, the this, the that, and just, like, that dynamic, and it’s, like, a love triangle. There’s the skater boy, the skater girl, and the preppy girl, and it’s really kind of just, like, missed opportunity of love. There’s so many different places we can take the film and it’s gonna have, like, it’s important to have a good message to it for me.”

When Rachel suggested Avril perform “Love Sux” at a rose ceremony on “The Bachelor,” she quipped, “That’d be so genius. I would so do it!”

Avril came up with an idea on the spot, saying, “That should totally be the music video! I should totally film it in the ‘Bachelor’ mansion and there’s just roses all over me.”