The Wedding Planneralmost had two different leads!
In a new interview withYahoo! Entertainment, director Adam Shankman opened up about how he came to castJennifer LopezandMatthew McConaugheyfor his iconic 2001 romantic comedy — revealing that the star actors weren’t the original first picks.
“Fine Line was trying to get into more of a commercial market, and they really liked this script,” Shankman, 56, said. “The plot was essentially the same, but it was going to be a very low-budget indie movie.”
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Eventually, Lopez, 51, expressed her interest in the script, though the filmmaker was hesitant to cast her at first.
“I was honestly resistant to the idea,” he admitted. “I didn’t perceive her as a romantic comedy person; she seemed too tough to me, frankly. But my agency said, ‘You have to meet with her: She read the script and she really wants to do this.’ "
“She was ambitious and understood everything that was girly and feminine about the movie, but at the same time recognized the engine inside of it,” he added. “There were many factors about the real-life Jennifer that really spoke to what the character was.”
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He immediately cast Lopez as Mary but recalled still looking for someone to fill the role of the romantic doctor. Shankman initially gravitated towardsThe Mummystar,Brendan Fraser.
“I had been working with Brendan a lot as a choreographer — we did everything fromGeorge of the JungletoMrs. Winterbournetogether. So I talked to him, and he was in,” Shankman said. “But then he switched agencies while we were negotiating, and the new agency pulled him out of our movie and intoBedazzled.”
He continued, “That was a really dark day for me, because we were a month-and-a-half away from starting rehearsal and we had sold the movie on Jennifer and Brendan.”
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With only a few weeks left before they were scheduled to begin shooting, Sony Pictures told Shankman that there was only one actor available to fill the role: McConaughey.
“I said to everybody, ‘I can’t imagine Matthew wouldeverwant to do a movie like this — he never has!'” Shankman recalled. “But I was told, ‘He is who is available. If you want to make the movie now, you have to get him.'”
And it seemed to be a work of fate as McConaughey, 51, and Lopez “got on like wildfire,” the director said.
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“I have never seen two people who, on the surface, are more different thanJennifer Lopezand Matthew McConaughey, but they were absolutely adorable together,” Shankman toldYahoo!.“They had very different processes, but they allowed each other the space and freedom to work those processes.”
On Tuesday, Lopez and McConaugheyreunited to celebrate the 20th anniversaryof the beloved rom-com. The two stars went onInstagram Livetogether to reminisce about their time working on the film.
“I so enjoyed working with you,” Lopez told McConaughey during their chat. “We had such a nice rapport and chemistry. We were somewhat at the beginning of our careers at that time. It was exciting to be working on any movie. I still feel that way. It was a magical time.”
source: people.com
