Here’s why Rachael Leigh Cook and Matthew Lillard didn’t reprise their old characters for He’s All That
Cook: "You'd have to deal with people’s feelings about if they like where your character ended up. Why deal with that?"
Film Features Matthew Lillard
Fans of now-vintage rom-com She’s All That might have rejoiced a bit when they heard two of the original film’s stars, Rachael Leigh Cook and Matthew Lillard, were returning for Netflix’s newly available reboot, He’s All That. Nostalgia is real, after all, and everyone loves a good in-joke. Unfortunately for all She’s All That purists, though, Cook and Lillard aren’t actually reprising their original roles for the new movie, instead popping up as the main character’s overworked mom and the high school’s mostly unseen principal, respectively.
But why? The A.V. Club sat down with the two for a recent video interview, below, in which the two talked about their characters. Cook told us that she “wasn’t part of the decision” to have the actors play new roles, but said she does “think it’s nice to not have to have the pressure of reprising a role from 20-plus years ago.” “I think would have felt a little bit strange,” she says, “And then you have to deal with people’s feelings about if they like where your character ended up. Why deal with that?” She does note that there are “heavy nods to [the pair’s] former characters in this movie,” most of which come in the climactic prom scene near He’s All That’s conclusion.
Lillard says that his association with He’s All That star Addison Rae earned him some rare respect from his own teenage kids. His oldest daughter, a 19-year old also named Addison, made him a brooch for Christmas that he wears in the interview. When he was leaving for the taping, though, he said she gave him some guff. “She’s like, “don’t wear that today,” he said. “Then she’s like, ‘oh, wait, is Addison Rae going to see it?’ Then she was like, ‘OK, maybe you can wear it today.’”
Lillard says that kind of attention from his kids is rare. “It is weird to have that sort of recognition of the people I’m working with, because now they care,” he says. “It’s hard to get your kids to care about you. I mean, if I die, they’ll cry. But until I die, they’re just going to be mean to me.”
He’s All That is available to stream now on Netflix. You can read our review of the movie, which our critic called “far from all that,” right here.
31 Comments
I don’t even remember Lillard in the original. RLC, Freddie Prinze, Usher and Paul Walker are the only cast I can recall off the top of my head.
/sigh You’re about to get eaten alive. Let me know where I can send the wreath.
Wasn’t he the popular girl’s new boyfriend? The one she dumps FPJr for?
Lillard was guy from the Real World that Prinze’s gf leaves him for.
Thats right! In my defense he’s not really in the movie that much, and it’s been 20 years since I’ve seen it…
If you’re talking about the actual original it’s Judy Garland, Joan Crawford, Fatty Arbuckle and Al Jolson.
Damn, they’re not in it either?
He has the best scene in the movie:
I couldn’t remember him in the movie either, but, having grown up through that time, I just assumed he was because he was a part of a number of Freddie Prinze, Jr, movies.
Matthew Lillard was most memorable in the late 90s when he was The Most in every scene. His performance in Scream is probably the best of the lot, in terms of building a character out of loony tics. But Peak Lillard is probably in Hackers, where he’s frequently a head taller than his scene-mates, who are visibly confused by his improvising. She’s All That is so over the top that he comes across as relatively sedate, which is something he could only pull off once he got past middle age.
You’re doing a great job when the people you’re acting with are visibly confused by you. That always helps sell a scene.
Thats okay, I was trying to remember what character they played in the movie as well until I realized I was actually remembering the movie “Can’t hardly Wait”. I am not sure I’ve seen “She’s all That”
Rachel Leigh Cook reads the Internet and has seen the response to stuff like The Last Jedi and Powerpuff Girls.Smart woman.
and was in Josie and the Pussycats
And appears to have made a deal with the devil, trading superstardom for eternal youth.
That’s the secret.
Fuxache is utterly “She’s All That” week at the AV Club? 3 articles in one day is kicking the arse out of it somewhat
Errors in this article:“She’s like, “don’t wear that today,” —> “She’s like, ‘Don’t wear that today,’”‘oh, wait, is Addison Rae going to see it?’ —> ‘Oh, wait, is Addison Rae going to see it?’OK —> Okay
Put RLC and Mandy Moore in something together and 1999 me will be pretty excited about it
Did I post this? Do I have an alternate account that I don’t know about? That is definitely a thought I’ve had.
elder millenial parallel thinking (also the name of my synth music group incidentally)
*geriatric millenial.
RLC *and* Mandy Moore must be on the first 4 Elder Millennial Parallel Thinking videos…
also a young Zooey Deschanel and, inexplicably, Seth Green
About 10 comments so far and no one has mentioned it, so I guess it falls to me to fulfill the international mandate relating to any story involving Matthew Lillard: It’s so great that he’s found such success as the voice of Shaggy.
It really is. There’s something weirdly perfect about the role of Shaggy being consistent over so many decades. Maybe there was a third guy in there somewhere, but it’s basically been Casey Casem or Matthew Lillard for 55 years or so.
As a franchise, Scooby has been oddly consistent with voices over the decades. Voice acting legend Frank Welker has been Fred for virtually the show’s entire 50+ years of existence and Scooby himself for about the last 20. Daphne had an actress — not the original, but soon after — who continued to voice her for 25+ years.
Welker’s IMDB reads like the encyclopedia. The guy has done everything. Anytime a random animal in a movie makes a sound, chances are its Welker. He also plays Fred most of the time in Scooby Doo related properties. For the life of my I have no idea why they chose to recast him and Lillard for that Scoob! movie. Are Will Forte and Zak Efron really that big of draws for the under ten year old kids who were the target audience of that show. My 6 year old was like “Everyone sounds weird in this”
Teddy told me that in Greek, “nostalgia” literally means “the pain from an old wound.”
Good thing they passed on the enormity of having to recreate such iconic characters! This is precisely why there was never a sequel to Casablanca.
Peak sass. Take your star sir.