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"You Again Cast: Between Friends and Bullies"
Published 8/31/10
By Lila Nordstrom
Everybody makes an immediate association to their own past when a script about a high school bully comes along. A horrible, awkward memory that bubbles to the surface, fighting all attempts to suppress it. A name that you never wanted to think about again, a personal equivalent of “Joanna,” the high school queen bee and main bitch in Disney’s You Again. Everybody except Jaime Lee Curtis, to be exact. “I think [she’s] a bit of an exaggeration,” she chides. “I didn’t have a Joanna. That’s a pretty harsh example of a bad girl.”
None of the other actors in “You Again,” were as quick to dismiss their high school dramas. Director Andy Fickman was attracted to the material for this very reason. “When I read the script I was fascinated by what I found was a very universal story. Where at first it seemed very female-centric I just thought, ‘Wow, everybody has someone from their past.”
“I called me mom about it.,” he continues. “My mom, who couldn’t remember what she had for dinner, immediately remembered who in high school gave her a hard time. And jumped straight to a name and a location. And then when I started meeting actors, it didn’t matter what their age was. Everybody told me a story about some asshole from their past that drove them crazy.”
As soon as he was approached, Fickman immediately thought of Kristen Bell for the lead role. Despite her seemingly sweet disposition, his first meeting with the soon-to-be star sounds like it could have turned into a kind of post-high school horror Bell’s geekish character in You Again would have known all too well. “I met Kristen, who I affectionately call K-Bell, in 2001. She was a student at NYU when I was casting a musical in New York called Reefer Madness. She was on my list to audition and she didn’t show up. I thought okay, people miss auditions, no big deal. Next day, she was on my list. Didn’t show up. I thought okay, not building goodwill with director. And then we get to callbacks. And the producers say, ‘She’s here.’ So she shows up and walks through the door and goes, ‘Fickman lets just cut to the chase. When are we going to start rehearsals?’”
For her part, Kristen claims: “Here’s what you should know. Anything that comes out of [Andy’s] mouth is nonsense,” before finally breaking down. “I did it! I skipped the auditions!” But all is well that ends well the two now work together whenever possible.
With Fickman able to offer her a film role for the first time, Bell was thrilled to take on the character of Marni, the recipient of Joanna’s ire. On how she related to Marni, Bell began, “Every day is my awkward phase,” before pausing to say, “What a ridiculous statement. Don’t print that.” She continued, “I think every high schooler, no matter if you’re Gisele, you feel super duper awkward in social situations and when you look in the mirror. So I feel like I had just as much as an experience as Marni even though I can’t really connect it to being bullied or locked out of a school or anything.”
When pressed for specifics, she didn’t hesitate. “I had a group of girlfriends that, our senior year, found another girl who sort of replaced me. Even to talk about it now, it was so painful.” But Bell was able to put the whole experience in perspective. “Everybody in high school, they’re just doing the best they can.”
Newcomer Odette Yustman, who plays the notorious Joanna, enjoyed the opportunity to base her character on her own high school bully. “I [drew] inspiration from her. I was excited when I read the script for the first time and I read the part of Joanna and I was like, ‘Wow, that’s this girl who tortured me. And I love it. And I want to do this movie. And I want to play her.’”
Signourney Weaver, on the other hand, claims she didn’t have anybody in particular who bullied her, but that didn’t mean high school was a breeze. “Like all of us, I had strange experiences in high school. I was already this tall when I was 11, so when I got to high school I was this horrible spidery, self-conscious, clumsy person.” Her height made her an easy target for teasing, but also an easy target for compassion. “I was so hapless I wasn’t worth being tormented. There were a couple of girls who were mean to me, but most were nice to be because they felt so sorry for me.”
Though Weaver may have been the black sheep to Jaime Lee Curtis’ high school cheerleader, perhaps the tables have now turned. Curtis enters the room like a hurricane and begins, totally unprompted. “Okay, here’s what you get to know about me. I’d never met Sigourney Weaver. Never. I’d heard about her. She’s very tall. We’ve been up for a lot of movies together. She always got them. I don’t hold any grudge. I barely got through high school. She went to Yale and speaks French. She’s married to a theater director, I’m married to a film director. She was in the number one movie of all time and she’ll tell you. Often. I was in the worst piece of shit you’ve ever seen, called ‘Virus.’ And yet my action figure is bigger than hers. Her action figure was 50% off. My action figure was a premium cost on E-bay. That’s all I’m saying. The rest of this is irrelevant.”
All kidding aside, the ensemble didn’t seem to have a “Joanna” among them. Yustman, the only rookie in this lineup of notable leading ladies, says that Bell took her under her wing immediately. “She was so warm and welcoming, and she really befriended me, which I appreciated so much. She was my best friend on the movie. I didn’t have anybody else. We were working long hours, and she gave me relationship advice and friendship advice, and all that. “
Weaver and Curtis, two James Cameron leading ladies working together for the first time, enjoyed each other’s company as well. Weaver says of Jaime, “She’s such an amazing woman. She’s so herself and so unlike anyone I’ve ever met. She comes into the trailer in the morning and takes charge. She fixes your hair, she brings you a book, she what you should wear. She just is a force of nature. We email each other “Dear Frenemy,” but I just adore her.” Despite her earlier monologue, Curtis seems to agree.
At the end of the day, who better to tell the story of a high school redemption than some of Hollywood’s most successful leading ladies? Bell reminds us that after years in the entertainment industry, it’s hard to ignore the obvious. “Hollywood is probably the [place] most like high school. Where gossip is the main source of information and telephone is the game to play. It’s funny how similar it is.”
None of the other actors in “You Again,” were as quick to dismiss their high school dramas. Director Andy Fickman was attracted to the material for this very reason. “When I read the script I was fascinated by what I found was a very universal story. Where at first it seemed very female-centric I just thought, ‘Wow, everybody has someone from their past.”
“I called me mom about it.,” he continues. “My mom, who couldn’t remember what she had for dinner, immediately remembered who in high school gave her a hard time. And jumped straight to a name and a location. And then when I started meeting actors, it didn’t matter what their age was. Everybody told me a story about some asshole from their past that drove them crazy.”
As soon as he was approached, Fickman immediately thought of Kristen Bell for the lead role. Despite her seemingly sweet disposition, his first meeting with the soon-to-be star sounds like it could have turned into a kind of post-high school horror Bell’s geekish character in You Again would have known all too well. “I met Kristen, who I affectionately call K-Bell, in 2001. She was a student at NYU when I was casting a musical in New York called Reefer Madness. She was on my list to audition and she didn’t show up. I thought okay, people miss auditions, no big deal. Next day, she was on my list. Didn’t show up. I thought okay, not building goodwill with director. And then we get to callbacks. And the producers say, ‘She’s here.’ So she shows up and walks through the door and goes, ‘Fickman lets just cut to the chase. When are we going to start rehearsals?’”
For her part, Kristen claims: “Here’s what you should know. Anything that comes out of [Andy’s] mouth is nonsense,” before finally breaking down. “I did it! I skipped the auditions!” But all is well that ends well the two now work together whenever possible.
With Fickman able to offer her a film role for the first time, Bell was thrilled to take on the character of Marni, the recipient of Joanna’s ire. On how she related to Marni, Bell began, “Every day is my awkward phase,” before pausing to say, “What a ridiculous statement. Don’t print that.” She continued, “I think every high schooler, no matter if you’re Gisele, you feel super duper awkward in social situations and when you look in the mirror. So I feel like I had just as much as an experience as Marni even though I can’t really connect it to being bullied or locked out of a school or anything.”
When pressed for specifics, she didn’t hesitate. “I had a group of girlfriends that, our senior year, found another girl who sort of replaced me. Even to talk about it now, it was so painful.” But Bell was able to put the whole experience in perspective. “Everybody in high school, they’re just doing the best they can.”
Newcomer Odette Yustman, who plays the notorious Joanna, enjoyed the opportunity to base her character on her own high school bully. “I [drew] inspiration from her. I was excited when I read the script for the first time and I read the part of Joanna and I was like, ‘Wow, that’s this girl who tortured me. And I love it. And I want to do this movie. And I want to play her.’”
Signourney Weaver, on the other hand, claims she didn’t have anybody in particular who bullied her, but that didn’t mean high school was a breeze. “Like all of us, I had strange experiences in high school. I was already this tall when I was 11, so when I got to high school I was this horrible spidery, self-conscious, clumsy person.” Her height made her an easy target for teasing, but also an easy target for compassion. “I was so hapless I wasn’t worth being tormented. There were a couple of girls who were mean to me, but most were nice to be because they felt so sorry for me.”
Though Weaver may have been the black sheep to Jaime Lee Curtis’ high school cheerleader, perhaps the tables have now turned. Curtis enters the room like a hurricane and begins, totally unprompted. “Okay, here’s what you get to know about me. I’d never met Sigourney Weaver. Never. I’d heard about her. She’s very tall. We’ve been up for a lot of movies together. She always got them. I don’t hold any grudge. I barely got through high school. She went to Yale and speaks French. She’s married to a theater director, I’m married to a film director. She was in the number one movie of all time and she’ll tell you. Often. I was in the worst piece of shit you’ve ever seen, called ‘Virus.’ And yet my action figure is bigger than hers. Her action figure was 50% off. My action figure was a premium cost on E-bay. That’s all I’m saying. The rest of this is irrelevant.”
All kidding aside, the ensemble didn’t seem to have a “Joanna” among them. Yustman, the only rookie in this lineup of notable leading ladies, says that Bell took her under her wing immediately. “She was so warm and welcoming, and she really befriended me, which I appreciated so much. She was my best friend on the movie. I didn’t have anybody else. We were working long hours, and she gave me relationship advice and friendship advice, and all that. “
Weaver and Curtis, two James Cameron leading ladies working together for the first time, enjoyed each other’s company as well. Weaver says of Jaime, “She’s such an amazing woman. She’s so herself and so unlike anyone I’ve ever met. She comes into the trailer in the morning and takes charge. She fixes your hair, she brings you a book, she what you should wear. She just is a force of nature. We email each other “Dear Frenemy,” but I just adore her.” Despite her earlier monologue, Curtis seems to agree.
At the end of the day, who better to tell the story of a high school redemption than some of Hollywood’s most successful leading ladies? Bell reminds us that after years in the entertainment industry, it’s hard to ignore the obvious. “Hollywood is probably the [place] most like high school. Where gossip is the main source of information and telephone is the game to play. It’s funny how similar it is.”