“She was the youngest, and it was a whole new world for her,” Heckerling says. Heckerling has fond memories of working with Brittany Murphy, who played newcomer Tai. “If Donald Faison wants to say he’s keeping it real, you’re going to go with it,” she says, referring to a line that the actor ad-libbed. “Every day there were changes,” Heckerling remembers, adding that the phrase “going postal” was pitched by a crew member. The shooting script didn’t undergo major alterations once production began, but lines were constantly getting tweaked on the set, with members of the cast and crew feeling comfortable to make suggestions. “ I was thinking of Adam from the Beastie Boys as what the guy looked like,” she continues, pointing out that “Paul was perfect.” Heckerling refers to the role of Josh as the toughest to cast. “He was just amazing - he was such a mensch,” Heckerling says, but “I needed somebody who was really innocent, a goofy kid.” “ she would have to act Cher - Alicia was Cher.”ĭave Chappelle came very close to nabbing the role of Murray, which eventually went to Donald Faison, but Chappelle already seemed a bit too mature for the part. “She had such a strong personality and sense of self,” the director says. She does confirm that Reese Witherspoon was a contender to play Cher. There are rumors about numerous now-A-list stars having read for roles, including Angelina Jolie, Ben Affleck and Terrence Howard, but Heckerling doesn’t quite remember all of those big names having sat down with her to audition. 'Clueless' Actor: I Was "Heartbroken" After Losing 'Titanic' Role to Leonardo DiCaprio “When Scott said he wanted to do it, then all the people who wanted to pass had a bidding war over it.” Rudin encouraged Heckerling to bring the script closer to how she had initially envisioned it, before the various sets of notes had been implemented. Finally, Stovitz got the script to producer Scott Rudin. “Everybody in town said no,” Heckerling says about the response she got from the other studios. No one was interested - until Rudin came to the rescue Ultimately, with teen-oriented comedies like Airheads and the Jeremy Piven-starring PCU underperforming, Fox got gun-shy and put the script in turnaround. “They thought should be her neighbor,” which reminded her too much of Meet Me in St. “ said, ‘Oh, it would be like The Brady Bunch ,'” Heckerling remembers. So they took it to Fox’s film department, and the execs liked it but wanted the script to “be geared more towards the, and I had problems with that,” Heckerling says.Īnother sticking point with Fox was the fact that Cher and love interest Josh ( Paul Rudd) were stepsiblings. Heckerling landed at CAA, where agent Ken Stovitz decided the pilot was “too good for TV” and needed to be a film. “Everything was going to hell,” she remembers.įox wanted more of the guys - and didn’t think stepkids should get cozy
GOING POSTAL MOVIE SCRIPT TV
Heckerling penned the TV script using the same tone and many of the characters that would later appear in the film, but Fox eventually passed and Heckerling soon switched agents. 'Clueless' Cast: Where Are They Now? (Photos)Ĭlueless began its life as a TV pilot for 20th Century Fox, with the company encouraging Heckerling to write about “the cool kids” at a high school rather than “the outsiders,” which writers typically focus on.
Here are 10 things you may not know about the film’s sometimes-bumpy production, including every studio passing on it, the script constantly undergoing changes from the set and Heckerling’s mixed feelings about the fans who have more recently fallen in love with Clueless. This includes the fact that Witherspoon came quite close to nabbing the role of matchmaker Cher, which became a career-defining part for Alicia Silverstone. With the seminal 1995 teen comedy marking the 20th anniversary of its release on July 19, writer-director Amy Heckerling spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about her lasting memories of making the film. Reese Witherspoon, Dave Chappelle and the Beastie Boys’ Ad-Rock in Clueless? As if!