HowMy Best Friends Weddingmessed with Julia Robertss image and changed rom-coms for good.
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But the project was bolder than it first appeared.
Enough to sit by and watch hernotget the guy?
It was a role that was tough to write and even tougher to make convincing on screen.
Heres the story behind it all, according to Meslow.
Hogan was the right director for the job.
The main note [while developing and producing]Muriels Weddingwas, The main characters not sympathetic.
We hate her, says Hogan.
And I was like, Well …Ilove her.
What really surprised me was that it wasnt really very romantic, he says.
Even if its kind of awful.
What Meg Ryan does to Bill Pullman inSleepless in Seattleis kind of awful.
Shes kind of awful.And I got to the end, and shedidntget the guy.
And I thought,Oh, my God, thats the point.
And this was a screenplay about how all isnotfair in love and war.
It was a romantic comedy that wasnt very romantic.
I thought,Julia has to make a death-defying leap, Hogan says.
I thought, immediately,This will work.
She was so committed to the dark side that I was a little bit worried.
Russell was, I thought, probably the most amazing actor I had ever encountered.
Julia had casting approval.
No one was getting in this movie if Julia didnt approve, says Hogan.
I dont know what went wrong, says Hogan.
It was one of the worst table reads Ive ever experienced.
Russell was seated opposite Julia.
And he wouldnt look at her.
And then Iknew: Russell was not going to be inMy Best Friends Wedding.
If Julias character wipes the floor with Kimmy, the film isnt going to work.
Julia is a movie star, and movie stars dont usually share the screen with other movie stars.
But whoever plays Kimmy has to be a movie star as well.
Many, many young actresses auditioned, including Drew Barrymore, Calista Flockhart, and Reese Witherspoon.
There was something about Camerons sunniness that implied strength, Hogan says.
No name actor wanted that part, says Hogan.
If memory serves, Julia wanted Benicio del Toro.
A brilliant actor, but … not known for his comedy.
Basically, Rupert played cads who got killed in the end, says Hogan.
So when Ruperts agent said, This part is for Rupert Everett, I said, Well …
I dont think so.
And the agent was really, really ballsy about it and said, No, I know Rupert.
The characters nationality was even changed from American to British to accommodate him.
And I said, Were going to ignore it.
You and Ibothhave to be satisfied with everything that happens.
And they were all young women.
It was like being auditioned.
And I just said, Ron, I cant work this way, Im sorry.
Im sorry to everybody in the room, but I really cant do this.
Would you mind, Ron, if the Ronettes left and I just worked with you?
And Ron was a little upset with me.
He thought it was very disrespectful to the Ronettes.
Which, I suppose, it was.
He said, Yeah.
I wish it was ten.
As Hogan saw it,My Best Friends Weddingwouldnt just be a romantic comedy.
She hopes that Michael will be mortified and repulsed at his fiancees awkwardness.
Hogan wanted Julianne to admit that shed lost the round and clap along with the rest of the crowd.
Roberts felt that, even in defeat, Julianne wouldnt give Kimmy an inch.
She did not want to do it, Hogan says.
She said, No.
Im not clapping for her.
And I said, Julia, kindly, just give me one take where you clap.
Weve got to have some sort of light here.
And Julia begrudgingly did it, but said, Im only doing it once.
And of course she and I knew that would be the take Id use.
Sure enough, thats the take that made the movie.
The uneasy questions that were laced into the movie just how badisJulianne?
and what consequences should she face for it?
sparked feverish debate about the movies ending from the very beginning.
But if not Michael, couldnt Julianne meetsomebody?
The studio was concerned.
And, you know, the argument wasnt completely illogical.
Shes at a wedding.
People meet people at weddings.
She goes outside to call George.
Suddenly, a devastatingly handsome single man, played by John Corbett, approaches.
Hi, Im Andy Connelly.
We havent met, he says.
If I was there, you wouldnt miss one dance, George sighs.
Bass witnessed it firsthand at an early test screening in Arizona.
The air in the room just disappeared, says Bass.
The whole point of the movie was that she would survive not getting the guy.
They hated thatso much.
Thats exactly what they didnt want.
Hogan was similarly horrified.
In a big way.
They wanted to tear the film off the screen.
Sony Pictures executive John Calley stalked up to Bass and delivered an ultimatum: Fix this.
Youve got until tomorrow at two oclock.
From his seat, he observed that the audience had actually enjoyed most of the movie.
A precise series of reshoots were conceived and shot to fix that problem.
At my parents house!
On my wedding day!
And when Julianne tries to reply, she cuts her off: Shut up.
No one wanted to watch a Julia Roberts rom-com with Julia Roberts sitting alone and miserable at the end.
But a deus ex machina with John Corbetts smiling face hadnt worked either.
Wasnt there some wayMy Best Friends Weddingcould land between those two poles?
My Best Friends Weddings actual ending is as sublime as that of any romantic comedy of the era.
As Julianne sits alone at the wedding, her cell phone rings.
Its George, of course, checking in on his friend one last time.
I can just picture you there, sitting alone at your table in your lavender gown, he says.
Did I tell you my gown was lavender?
Life goes on, he says.
Maybe there wont be marriage.
Maybe there wont be sex.
But by God, therell be dancing.
It might be your child.
It might be your parent.
It might be your colleague at work.
It might be your best social friend.
Its the person who you love.
And its not a crime to say thatthatlove was the most important thing to her.
My Best Friends Weddingopened on June 20, 1997.
Everybody told us we were fucked, says Hogan.
Meanwhile,My Best Friends Weddingendured, drawing audiences throughout the entire summer.
I felt like Julia never got her due fromMy Best Friends Wedding, says Hogan.
You know, thats the great thing about Julia.
She wanted to mess with her image.
She just believed that somebody in love is capable of doing terrible things.
And if somebody said, Youre messing with the cash cow here … Julia never cared about that.
Excerpted from the book FROM HOLLYWOOD WITH LOVE by Scott Meslow.
Copyright 2022 by Scott Meslow.
Reprinted by permission of Dey Street Books, an imprint of William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers.
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