In honor of the 20-year anniversary of Clueless (yes, 20, can you believe it?!) Vanity Fair has published an amazing feature which spills loads of behind the scenes secrets from the iconic flick. Appropriately titled, "The Definitive Oral History of How Clueless Became an Iconic 90s Classic," the article features interviews with a number of the key players in the making of the film, including director and writer Amy Heckerling, Carrie Frazier, Marcia Cross (the casting directors at Fox and Paramount, respectively) as well as stars Alicia Silverstone (Cher), Stacey Dash (Dionne) and Paul Rudd (Josh). If you're...
- 6/10/2015
- E! Online
What's better than playing "What if?" castings with nostalgic '90s classics? Vanity Fair provides the fodder for our collective imagination in this oral history of Clueless, where writer and director Amy Heckerling, Fox casting director Carrie Frazier, and the rest of the cast discuss the casting process, which could have led to some mind-blowing combinations. Heckerling had her heart set on Alicia Silverstone, but Fox wanted her to consider other options, like Reese Witherspoon, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, or Keri Russell. For the part of Josh, Cher's stepbrother-lover, they looked at Ben Affleck and Zach Braff before settling on Paul Rudd. For the part of Murray (played by Donald Faison), they looked at Terrence Howard (!) and Dave Chappelle (!!). You may imagine an alternate timeline where Dave Chappelle went on to star on Scrubs.Cher: At the behest of the studio, Heckerling considered the following women for the role that...
- 6/9/2015
- by E. Alex Jung
- Vulture
"Clueless" was one of the defining movies of the '90s -- and now, 20 years later, Vanity Fair has revealed some major casting secrets! While director Amy Heckerling says she "had her heart set on Alicia Silverstone" from the beginning, she explains that Fox wanted her to explore other options for Cher. "I saw Alicia Witt, the redheaded [actress]. And who else? Tiffani Thiessen. The one that -- she was in that show and she cut her hair and everybody was mad? Keri Russell, yes," she tells the mag. "Then they go, 'You’ve got to see the girl in [Flesh and Bone].' I never got to see her. I guess she was off on other things. That turned out to be Gwyneth Paltrow." Even Angelina Jolie was initially considered for the lead role! "She was too knowing for what was needed for Clueless," Fox casting director Carrie Frazier reveals. "Angelina never came in [to audition] for the project.
- 6/9/2015
- by tooFab Staff
- TooFab
Exclusive: HBO is shutting down its casting department, with its staff, led by 14-year HBO veteran, Svp Carrie Frazier, and VP Amy Jo Berman, exiting. HBO uses outside casting directors on all of its projects, with the in-house casting executives playing a supplemental role, mostly on the longform side. With the pay cable network’s movie and miniseries output decreasing over the past few years, HBO brass have made a decision to close that department. The network may revisit their casting needs in the future. HBO’s decision is the latest in a growing cost-cutting trend over the past several years on both the TV and feature side that involves the downsizing/eliminating in-house casting departments or the phasing out of seasoned senior staff casting executives. Rick Jacobs left Lifetime 2 years ago as part of the company-wide layoffs. NBC’s Marc Hirschfeld was let go from NBC in the 2008 executive shakeup.
- 10/15/2011
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Rene Russo makes like a distaff Doctor Dolittle in "Buddy", Sony's family-oriented fare about a 1920s eccentric New York socialite who rescues an ailing baby gorilla from the zoo and raises it in the comfort of her own home along with her other animals: chimps, geese, rabbits, horses and talkative parrots.
Based on the real-life exploits of Gertrude Lintz, the film might seem like a natural for the kiddies. Instead, "Buddy" is considerably less fun than its barrel of monkeys, despite the impressive menagerie.
Written and directed by Caroline Thompson ("Black Beauty"), it's often too dark and brooding for most youngsters and, given the subject matter, it could have benefited from a much nimbler pace.
Still, given a fairly empty family berth in the market, this Jim Henson Pictures vehicle might nevertheless sneak in a little pre-"Hercules" business before hitting the video racks.
Like all mothers, Gertrude "Trudy" Lintz learns that the hardest thing about love is letting go, even if her children happen to be much hairier than most. When mama's boy Buddy grows up, no amount of coddling or dressing him in tailor-made Bergdorf Goodman threads can allay his jungle roots. As the animatronic ape begins to have less control over his own strength and primal urges, Trudy is forced to make the decision that will be best for all concerned.
Russo, whose classically exotic looks serve the period piece well, puts in a dedicated performance as the colorful matron who's regarded with constant bemusement by her physician husband (Robbie Coltrane) and loyal assistant (Alan Cumming) and with frequent eyebrow elevation by her long-suffering housekeeper (Irma P. Hall).
Problems surface behind the scenes. As the situation grows more serious, Thompson suddenly seems to be directing "Wuthering Heights", complete with ominous shadows and storms, with the moody Buddy standing in for Heathcliff. Even the supposedly lighter, meant-to be-funny sequences have sinister tones, including a scene in which a pair of out-of-control chimps hurl a meat clever at each other across a kitchen.
As for the effects, the folks at Jim Henson's Creature Shop have done their usual impressive work in bringing the various stages of Buddy to life through stand-alone animatronics or, when Buddy gets bigger, combining suited-up actors with remote-controlled facial movements.
The only trouble is, when placed alongside those real-life, truly animated, mischievous chimps (who are constantly stealing the show), even the most advanced state-of-the-art technology feels mechanically awkward by comparison, like plopping Steven Seagal in the middle of Cirque du Soleil.
Elsewhere, production values are crisp and colorful, from cinematographer Steve Mason's bright, airy compositions to costume designer Colleen Atwood's whimsical fabrics.
BUDDY
Sony Pictures
A Columbia Pictures release
Jim Henson Pictures presents
an American Zoetrope production
Director-screenwriter Caroline Thompson
Screen story William Joyce and
Caroline Thompson
Based on the book "Animals Are My Hobby" by
Gertrude Davies Lintz
Producers Steve Nicolaides and Fred Fuchs
Executive producers Francis Ford Coppola, Stephanie Allain and Brian Henson
Director of photography Steve Mason
Production designers David Nichols and
Daniel Lomino
Editor Jonathan Shaw
Music Elmer Bernstein
Costume designer Colleen Atwood
Casting Carrie Frazier
Color/stereo
Cast:
Trudy Lintz Rene Russo
Dr. Lintz Robbie Coltrane
Dick Alan Cumming
Emma Irma P. Hall
Professor Spatz Paul Reubens
Buddy (adult) Peter Elliott, Mak Wilson
Running time -- 84 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Based on the real-life exploits of Gertrude Lintz, the film might seem like a natural for the kiddies. Instead, "Buddy" is considerably less fun than its barrel of monkeys, despite the impressive menagerie.
Written and directed by Caroline Thompson ("Black Beauty"), it's often too dark and brooding for most youngsters and, given the subject matter, it could have benefited from a much nimbler pace.
Still, given a fairly empty family berth in the market, this Jim Henson Pictures vehicle might nevertheless sneak in a little pre-"Hercules" business before hitting the video racks.
Like all mothers, Gertrude "Trudy" Lintz learns that the hardest thing about love is letting go, even if her children happen to be much hairier than most. When mama's boy Buddy grows up, no amount of coddling or dressing him in tailor-made Bergdorf Goodman threads can allay his jungle roots. As the animatronic ape begins to have less control over his own strength and primal urges, Trudy is forced to make the decision that will be best for all concerned.
Russo, whose classically exotic looks serve the period piece well, puts in a dedicated performance as the colorful matron who's regarded with constant bemusement by her physician husband (Robbie Coltrane) and loyal assistant (Alan Cumming) and with frequent eyebrow elevation by her long-suffering housekeeper (Irma P. Hall).
Problems surface behind the scenes. As the situation grows more serious, Thompson suddenly seems to be directing "Wuthering Heights", complete with ominous shadows and storms, with the moody Buddy standing in for Heathcliff. Even the supposedly lighter, meant-to be-funny sequences have sinister tones, including a scene in which a pair of out-of-control chimps hurl a meat clever at each other across a kitchen.
As for the effects, the folks at Jim Henson's Creature Shop have done their usual impressive work in bringing the various stages of Buddy to life through stand-alone animatronics or, when Buddy gets bigger, combining suited-up actors with remote-controlled facial movements.
The only trouble is, when placed alongside those real-life, truly animated, mischievous chimps (who are constantly stealing the show), even the most advanced state-of-the-art technology feels mechanically awkward by comparison, like plopping Steven Seagal in the middle of Cirque du Soleil.
Elsewhere, production values are crisp and colorful, from cinematographer Steve Mason's bright, airy compositions to costume designer Colleen Atwood's whimsical fabrics.
BUDDY
Sony Pictures
A Columbia Pictures release
Jim Henson Pictures presents
an American Zoetrope production
Director-screenwriter Caroline Thompson
Screen story William Joyce and
Caroline Thompson
Based on the book "Animals Are My Hobby" by
Gertrude Davies Lintz
Producers Steve Nicolaides and Fred Fuchs
Executive producers Francis Ford Coppola, Stephanie Allain and Brian Henson
Director of photography Steve Mason
Production designers David Nichols and
Daniel Lomino
Editor Jonathan Shaw
Music Elmer Bernstein
Costume designer Colleen Atwood
Casting Carrie Frazier
Color/stereo
Cast:
Trudy Lintz Rene Russo
Dr. Lintz Robbie Coltrane
Dick Alan Cumming
Emma Irma P. Hall
Professor Spatz Paul Reubens
Buddy (adult) Peter Elliott, Mak Wilson
Running time -- 84 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
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