Freaky Friday Facts!

Ello, ello, ello! How are we all doing? good hopefully 🤞🏼 I was so hoping I could say I was, but sadly I’m still suffering immensely with my knee, it’s now been over 5 weeks since it suddenly gave way on me and now it’s causing bruising to occur on my foot which again has suddenly just appeared out of nowhere 🤔 but that hasn’t stopped me from doing things as we’ve had quite a busy couple of weeks; 
One thing we did do was go to The Deep, a popular aquarium attraction 🐠🦈🐧based in Hull, England. It was so fun and really took my mind off of the day (Sunday 27th) as it’s usually an emotionally hard day for me. Plus, I managed to get a lot of photos, which I will be doing a post on at a later date! Now while that was good, something bad usually happens, and it did in the form of we were milliseconds away from being involved in a serious car crash (one week after my dads actual accident) due to some idiot driver speeding and trying to race across in front of us, luckily since my dads accident he’s been even more careful when driving and going a bit slower than usual, so we managed to avoid any serious harm 😮‍💨 But it didn’t help our new car as, due to having to brake rather quickly, it caused an oil leak which he had to get fixed the next day, as it ended up causing the car to start smoking, luckily it was an easy fix 🙌🏼.
Some other things that also happened in the past two weeks include: I sent a request to my GP surgery to have either an X-ray or MRI scan done on my knee as it’s been over 5 weeks and there’s been no improvement (in fact it’s actually getting progressively worse 😢) and after checking on a couple of online medical websites via live chat, it’s apparently quite alarming and should be checked out immediately with how long it’s been left untreated, well according to an email I received, the request was completed yet I’d received no phone call or appointment from the doctors themselves, so they lied in the email which I have proof of, which upset me a lot as whatever is wrong with my knee is now causing my foot and arm to bruise and I’m now at a total loss of what to do as they don’t seem to want to help me even when I’ve practically begged them. 
And on top of having to deal with all that, last Friday (August 1st) marked 12 years since we lost my beloved grandad ♥️, which again was an emotionally hard day to contend with as well. But anyway, enough of my rambling (apologies for that), let’s move on to today’s post…

22 years ago this month, one of the most entertaining films to leave Walt Disney Pictures graced our cinema screens – Freaky Friday. It showcases a mother-daughter duo – played by Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis – who switch bodies once a spell takes effect, with unexpected consequences. A remake of Disney’s previous 1976 and 1995 adaptations, the 2003 family comedy was a major success, with many young people and their parents finding it hilariously relatable to their lives in one way or another. To mark Freaky Friday’s milestone anniversary and the excitement as we wait for the sequel to drop in cinemas around the world, as well as on Disney+ this Friday — Here are 25 facts that you possibly didn’t know.

Run Time: 1 hour 37 Minutes
Directed By: Mark Waters

Summary:

The lives of Anna and Tess couldn’t be more normal, with the very different worlds they lead. They don’t see eye-to-eye on clothes, hair, music, and certainly not in each other’s taste in men. One Thursday evening, their disagreements reach a fever pitch – Anna is incensed that her mother doesn’t support her musical aspirations, and Tess, a widow about to remarry, can’t see why Anna won’t give her fiancé a break. Everything soon changes when two identical Chinese fortune cookies switch their bodies and minds. As they literally walk a mile in each other’s shoes, they gain a little newfound respect for the other’s point of view. But with Tess’s wedding coming on Saturday, the two have to find a way to switch back. Will they manage to find a way back to their own bodies, or will they stay in each other’s bodies forever?

Main Cast:

Jamie Lee Curtis — Tess Coleman
Lindsay Lohan — Anna Coleman
Mark Harmon — Ryan
Harold Gould — Grandpa
Ryan Malgarini — Harry Coleman
Chad Michael Murray — Jake
Stephen Tobolowsky — Mr. Bates
Christina Vidal — Maddie
Haley Hudson — Peg
Julie Gonzalo — Stacey
Rosalind Chao — Pei-Pei
Lucille Soong — Pei-Pei’s Mom

Facts About Freaky Friday

When Jamie Lee Curtis found out that Lindsay Lohan, who was going to be playing her daughter, had starred in The Parent Trap (1998), she asked, “Which twin did she play?”, unaware that Lohan had performed both roles.

Annette Bening was originally slated to play Tess Coleman. She backed out shortly before filming and was replaced by Jamie Lee Curtis. Sigourney Weaver was also considered. Curtis only had six days to prepare for the role after Bening dropped out.

Michelle Trachtenberg was cast as Anna but had to back out due to her contractual obligations to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997). Coincidentally, this is the second movie she turned down in which Lindsay Lohan won the lead role. The first was Lohan’s film debut, The Parent Trap (1998).

Kelly Osbourne originally auditioned as Anna (not as Anna’s best friend) and was offered the part, but decided to back out.

The snapshots in the opening credits are actually photos of Jamie Lee Curtis and her daughter, Annie Guest.

Although Anna embraced an alternative style, she was originally supposed to be hardcore Goth. When Lindsay initially read the script, she thought that audiences wouldn’t connect with Anna’s gothic personality. To get the powers that be to shift her character’s style to something more mainstream, Lindsay showed up to her audition wearing the preppiest outfit she could find to prove her point.

Jodie Foster was offered the role of Tess, as she had played the daughter in the original. She turned it down. She later stated that while she liked the script, the main reason she turned it down was that she was concerned that casting a stunt would overshadow the movie’s merit.

In this remake, the mother and daughter interact with each other while they are switched, while in the original, this never happened.

Lindsay and Jamie Lee both had to learn to play the guitar for the role so that their hand movements would look right. They were taught by a rock musician, and Lindsay spent about a year practising! 

The guitar that Jamie Lee Curtis plays offstage during the show at the House of Blues is an Ernie Ball/MusicMan Steve Lukather (Toto) Signature Model.

Mischa Barton, Kristen Stewart, Mae Whitman, Evan Rachel Wood, Brie Larson, Emmy Rossum, Kristen Bell, Shiri Appleby, and Danielle Panabaker all auditioned for the role of Anna Coleman.

Spencer Breslin, Angus T. Jones, and Daryl Sabara all auditioned to play Harry.

Chad Michael Murray and Christina Vidal were twenty-two playing high school students. Lindsay Lohan and Haley Hudson, meanwhile, were teenagers.

Chad Michael Murray (Jake) and Julie Gonzalo (Stacey) later worked together on A Cinderella Story (2004) in similar roles. Murray was again cast as the main character’s love interest, while Gonzalo was again cast as the main character’s rival.

Lindsay had her first on-screen kiss in Freaky Friday. In a behind-the-scenes YouTube clip, Lindsay admitted that the kiss she shared with co-star Chad Michael Murray was the first she had done on screen.  

Two versions of the movie came before it. The 2003 flick was the third time this story came to the screen. The 1976 version starred Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster, while Disney’s 1995 made-for-TV version featured Shelley Long and Gaby Hoffmann.

Most of the songs in the movie are covers/remakes, just like how the movie is a remake.

Jamie Lee’s “shut up!” line while mimicking Anna is one of the movie’s most enduring moments. As it turns out, she needed help from Lindsay to get the delivery just right.

In an interview with the New York Post, Jamie Lee revealed that her daughter Annie told her she was “trying too hard” to act like a teenager after she visited the set early on in the shoot. After her daughter reminded her that she was “naturally immature” (ha!) and gave her “permission to let go,” she was able to perfect her role.

Jamie Lee Curtis’ character compares herself to the Crypt Keeper when looking at herself in the mirror. Mary Ellen Trainor, who guest-starred in And All Through the House (1989), appears in this film as ‘Diary Reading Patient’.

The film paid homage to Jamie Lee Curtis’ mother. A character named Mr Bates appears in the film as a tribute to the actor’s mother, Janet Leigh, who is best known for her performance in the 1960 film Psycho.

The cover of Tess Coleman’s book, “Through the Looking Glass”, is the same as the original Freaky Friday novel written by Mary Rodgers.

In an alternate ending, Harry (Ryan Malgarini) and Grandpa (Harold Gould) opened their body-swap-causing fortune cookies just as an earthquake happened, setting up a potential sequel, but director Mark Waters claimed that it wasn’t funny enough.

Lindsay went on to win three awards for the movie. Freaky Friday quickly became a Disney fan favourite in the early 2000s, and Lindsay took home three awards for her performance of both Anna and Tess Coleman. At the 2004 Teen Choice Awards, she won Choice Breakout Movie Star and Choice Hissy Fit. She then added to that by receiving the Best Breakthrough Award at the MTV Movie Awards in 2004.

Anna and Tess’s plan to restore themselves to normal by running into each other from opposite sides of the room is similar to one on Bewitched (1964).

Freaky Friday was a commercial success, grossing over $160 million worldwide against a production budget of $26 million. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for the performances of Lohan and Curtis, the latter being nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. And after more than 20 years since the first film,  Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis are set to be reunited on screen as they appear in a sequel to the bodyswap comedy that delighted fans in the noughties. The sequel, which releases this week, promises even more body swapping, and the trailer (if you’ve seen it) shows Anna’s daughter and soon-to-be stepdaughter will be the ones swapping bodies with their mother and grandmother. The sequel will blend comedy, heartfelt family moments, and new twists to keep the story fresh for both returning fans and first‑time viewers.

Thank you for visiting my blog and reading today’s post. I hope you enjoyed learning about this iconic movie as much as I enjoyed it! Have a lovely day, and enjoy the rest of your week, and I shall see you again in two weeks!